This is a list of players from Taiwan in Major League Baseball. There have been 18 players total from Taiwan. Those players, especially star pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, became household names of Taiwanese people and induced huge followings for their games during MLB seasons. In November 2011, the inaugural MLB Taiwan All-Star Series was played in five games at three ballparks across Taiwan during the postseason. Wang and Fu-Te Ni were called up by the Chinese Taipei national baseball team against the MLB All-Star team. [1] All Taiwanese players who have appeared in Major League Baseball began their professional baseball careers in the United States by signing with teams as an international free agent. The first Taiwanese baseball player to be selected and signed via the Major League Baseball draft process was Lyle Lin, who was drafted in the fourteenth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft, and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. [2] [3]
Included in this table are players who are on, or have been on, an active MLB roster during the current MLB season (or, during the offseason, players who were on an active MLB roster during the most recently completed MLB season). Players are ordered by the date of MLB debut.
| Name | Position | MLB debut | Games | MLB team(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kai-Wei Teng | Pitcher | March 31, 2024 | 8 | San Francisco Giants (2024–) | [4] |
| Tsung-Che Cheng | Infielder | April 9, 2025 | 3 | Pittsburgh Pirates (2025–) | [5] |
Listed below are previous players in MLB, ordered by the date of their final MLB appearance.
| Player | League | Selections | Year(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong-Chih Kuo | NL | 1 | 2010 | Selected in place of injured Jason Heyward. [22] |
| Player | Seasons | Positions | WC | DS | CS | World Series | Refs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series won | Games played | Series won | Games played | Series won | Games played | Series won | Games played | ||||
| Wei-Yin Chen | 2012 Baltimore Orioles 2014 Baltimore Orioles | P | L W | 1 1 | L | 1 | [23] [24] [25] | ||||
| Hong-Chih Kuo | 2006 Los Angeles Dodgers 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers | P | L W | 1 1 | L L | 3 4 | [26] [27] [28] [29] | ||||
| Chien-Ming Wang | 2005 New York Yankees 2006 New York Yankees 2007 New York Yankees | P | L L L | 1 1 2 | [30] [31] [32] | ||||||