Boston Red Sox Sign Two-Way Player Liu Chih-Jung (20 years old)

[soxhop411]

On October 23, the Boston Red Sox have reportedly signed Culture University’s 劉致榮 (Liu Chih-Jung) as an international free agent. The signing bonus for the 20-year-old switch-hitting two-way player is rumoured to be $700,000 to $1,000,000 USD at this stage.

• UDN reported the signing bonus is close to one million USD.
• ETtoday reported it is between $700,000 to $750,000 USD.
• Apple Daily reported it is above $725,000 USD.
• Liberty Sports reported at least $750,000 USD.

The 20-year-old Liu Chih-Jung found himself in the media spotlight in September when he was clocked throwing 158kph (98mph) during a university tournament. Apart from his fastball, Liu also displayed his ability to hit and crushed several home runs while hitting from both sides.

Liu took almost two years off from pitching after high school due to injuries. During those times, he mainly played as a middle infielder and did not return to the mound again until 2019.

On October 20, Liu Chih-Jung tossed 2.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts against Japan in the 2019 Asian Baseball Championship. The fastest pitch he threw in that outing was 158kph (98mph). However, several scouts in attendance clocked him at 163kph (101mph).

http://cpblstats.com/boston-red-sox-sign-2-way-player-liu-chih-jung-98mph/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmfView: https://youtu.be/MZGIIBC0i1o
View: https://youtu.be/3woHZ4NFjXw


View: https://youtu.be/mqqIyALuTqw

More here
http://cpblstats.com/20-year-old-liu-chih-jung-throws-158kph-98mph/

 

[stepson_and_toe]

Looks like shoulder injury waiting to happen. Don't know what his previous injury that caused him to shift to middle-infield was for two years, but he weighs 150 lbs and throws 98+ and it doesn't look like it's coming from hips legs and hips.

 

[Green Monster]

Gotta take some of the hype with a grain of salt.....remember DiceK was supposed to throw 98mph fastball and have a Gyroball that defied the laws of physics. The video clips above show a straight fastball that doesn't seem to be overpowering anyone. I am sure Liu is a good pitcher and given that he is 20yo would make sense to take a chance on, but I think it is reasonable to temper expectations.

 

[67YAZ]

I am sure Liu is a good pitcher and given that he is 20yo would make sense to take a chance on, but I think it is reasonable to temper expectations.

On the other hand, by coming over at a relatively young age and getting a bonus in the range of draft picks 66-85, Liu can enter into the Sox' development pipeline with reasonable levels of pressure and expectations. There's a lot of talent to work with here, which is exciting for a farm system that doesn't have many high-upside prospects in the pipeline right now.

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

That fastball is Joe Kelly-ish...straight as an arrow.

 

[nvalvo]

I see a three-pitch mix in those videos: a straight four-seam fastball in the high 90s (150s in kph), a kind of slurvy breaking pitch in the low 80s (130s in kph), and a circle changeup/palm-ball with two seam movement around the same speed. I'm not certain those last two are separate pitches.

I'll also add that while he gets a ton of swinging strikes on the curve in the videos, it doesn't look sharp to me at all.

 

[nighthob]

I’d settle for him turning into our 2B of the future.

 

[Plympton91]

I’d settle for him doing well enough at Salem next year to be good trade bait at the deadline.

 

[oumbi]

This from SoxProspects about Liu:

Asian Baseball Championship

While the tournament ended on October 20 with Taiwan winning its first title in 18 years, the Red Sox signed the Most Valuable Player from this tournament on Wednesday. Liu Chih-Jung struck out six and did not allow a run over 3 1/3 innings as him and Tzu-Wei Lin helped lead Taiwan to the championship. The 20-year-old right-hander has a fastball that reportedly can hit 98.

 

[Manramsclan]

Regardless of how this pans out, I like that the Sox are looking everywhere for possible Major League players.

 

[Rough Carrigan]

Are we gonna hear all the stuff about Ken Brett again? Did it all pretty much boil down to "if a guy can be a really good position player, let him be that. A pitching career is so uncertain compared to a position player's."

 

[jon abbey]

Ohtani and Brendan McKay are both in the bigs now trying different versions of doing both, and you should check out Michael Lorenzen of the Reds highlights from this year if you didn't see them:

"Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Cincinnati Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen earned the win on the hill, played in the outfield and hit a home run, becoming the first player in MLB history to accomplish those feats in the same game since Babe Ruth in 1921."

So people are trying, but it is really really hard to do any combo of both and be a positive contributor in both roles. Ohtani will give it a shot again next year, if anyone can do it he can IMO.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

I like the acquisitions, but I am not sure the Sox are breaking new ground here. They have been adding international and fringe players pretty regularly over the years.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

I like the acquisitions, but I am not sure the Sox are breaking new ground here. They have been adding international and fringe players pretty regularly over the years.

The Redsox were one of the first teams to heavily recruit players out of Korea... but that was back in the Dan Duquette era. Such greats like Sun Woo Kim, Jin Ho Cho and Seung Song

 

[stepson_and_toe]

A proposed rule change for 2020 is that players must be designated as either position players or pitchers, with a special exception for legitimate two-way players. Designated two-way players and pitchers-only will be allowed to pitch in the first nine innings of a game unless their team is ahead or behind by at least six runs.

If the player's union doesn't agree in this discussion, I believe it still could be implemented by MLB down the line. But given that it is under consideration, it could explain why teams might be seeking two-way players.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

A proposed rule change for 2020 is that players must be designated as either position players or pitchers, with a special exception for legitimate two-way players. Designated two-way players and pitchers-only will be allowed to pitch in the first nine innings of a game unless their team is ahead or behind by at least six runs.

If the player's union doesn't agree in this discussion, I believe it still could be implemented by MLB down the line. But given that it is under consideration, it could explain why teams might be seeking two-way players.

How would this really be any different than now? Usually if a non pitcher is pitching, the team is already down by 6 or more runs anyway.

 

[Harry Hooper]

How would this really be any different than now? Usually if a non pitcher is pitching, the team is already down by 6 or more runs anyway.

Yeah, what is this proposed player classification about? Does MLB want to cap the number of pitchers on the 25-man roster?

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Yeah, what is this proposed player classification about? Does MLB want to cap the number of pitchers on the 25-man roster?

26 now. All teams must expand to 28 in September. Hmm. Didn't know that bit.

 

[Plympton91]

A proposed rule change for 2020 is that players must be designated as either position players or pitchers, with a special exception for legitimate two-way players. Designated two-way players and pitchers-only will be allowed to pitch in the first nine innings of a game unless their team is ahead or behind by at least six runs.

If the player's union doesn't agree in this discussion, I believe it still could be implemented by MLB down the line. But given that it is under consideration, it could explain why teams might be seeking two-way players.

This seems like another episode of Commission Manfreds brilliant marketing strategy, which can be summed up as, “Come watch Major League Baseball, a game that has a million things wrong with it, but I’m gonna fix that....soon....I promise!”