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Yu Chang appeared in uniform for no fewer than four teams during the 2022 season. After some hot swinging in a recent World Baseball Classic game, maybe some of his former teams are wishing they had kept him around.
Chang plays for Chinese Taipei, who are hosting Pool B matches in Taichung. In addition to Chinese Taipei, Pool B includes Panama, Cuba, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Despite dropping the first game of the tournament to Panama by a 12-5 margin, Taipei hustled against Italy on March 10th, hitting a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to cement the 11-7 win.
Entering the tournament, the Netherlands were the team to beat. The team features a plethora of players born on the Dutch island of Curacao, such as San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts and former Atlanta Braves closer Kenley Jansen.
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"The Yu Chang experience #WorldBaseballClassic" - World Baseball Classic
Despite falling behind 1-0 in the 1st inning, Chinese Taipei never faltered. Yu Chang took Netherlands starter Lars Huijer 410 feet to center field, putting his team ahead by a score of 5-1. Chinese Taipei eventually won the game by a commanding 9-5 score.
For fans of Chinese Taipei, passion was running high after the team's win against Italy yesterday. The brilliance of Yu Chang, who was hitting in the clean-up spot, brought things to another level. Fans are already reeling back their doubts about Chinese Taipei on account of their spectacular performance.
Although most fans were skeptical about the team's chances of making it out of their pool, back-to-back routes from Chinese Taipei are beginning to change perceptions. With the win, Taipei advanced to the next round and qualified for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Yu Chang is the player receiving the most praise. The 27-year old native of Taitung was traded three times this year. All combined in 2023, he hit .208/.289/.315 with 4 home runs and 15 RBIs. He is set to only make around $50,000 with the Boston Red Sox next season.
Yu Chang and Chinese Taipei could be the 2023 WBC dark horse
Although we are still in the early stages of this tournament, Chinese Taipei is showing strong potential to be a come-from-behind success story. Now, the team only needs to maintain their composure as they move on to face stiffer competition in the form of teams such as Japan and South Korea.
