Taiwan's only MLB pitcher 'Lee Jung-hoo' is absent from WBC, "There is still a lot to learn."→Because you have to challenge yourself to the future"

*This content was translated by AI.

Taiwanese national pitcher Deng Kai-wei (28) of the San Francisco Giants declined his request to convene the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Taiwanese national team in March after much consideration.

Deng Kai-wei issued an official explanation through the Taiwanese agency on the 9th and announced, "After repeatedly contemplating and discussing with my family and my teammates, I decided to make a difficult decision to politely decline the invitation of the WBC national team."

"I am well aware that my decision will lead to various opinions, and that I was disappointed with the fans who expected me to throw the ball in the Taiwanese national team. I fully understand how the fans feel. I also think representing Taiwan is a very meaningful and valuable experience, but my thoughts remain unchanged," he added.

Taiwanese Deng Kai-wei is a starting pitcher who played well in San Francisco last season. He pitched in eight games (7 starts) in the 2025 season, recording 2 wins, 4 losses and a 6.37 ERA. It was not a very overwhelming performance, but it showed potential with four to five pre-issuances.

In particular, Deng Kai-wei, who started an away game against the Colorado Rockies on September 2 last year, pitched impressively as he won his second game of the season with nine hits, eight strikeouts and two runs in five ⅓ innings. Coors Field is a stadium that is evaluated as having a high altitude and stretching the ball well, but there were no walks and no homers. Although he gave up somewhat more than nine hits, he showed off his crisis management ability and minimized his runs. He struck out as many as nine.

Deng Kai-wei cited the reason that his skills are still somewhat insufficient to play in the national team. He said, "I was on the major league stage for the first time in the 2024 season. This experience has shocked me a lot personally and made me realize that I still need to improve and learn a lot. He gained practical experience in the fiercer competition in the 2025 season. Eventually, at this point, I became more convinced that I had to work on every preparation process and move toward the next goal. "As a result of evaluating the overall situation and future prospects, absence was the only decision we could make," he said. Deng was also seen building up at Tread Athletics in the U.S. He is busy preparing for the 2026 season.

It is a clear boon for the South Korean national team. The South Korean national team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55), is tied to Group B along with Taiwan, Australia, the Czech Republic and Japan in the WBC finals. The South Korean national team will face Taiwan for the third time on March 8. Although they are scheduled to play the second group qualifying match against Japan ahead of Taiwan, they need to put more effort into the match against Taiwan than against Japan to pass the qualifying match.

Above all, Deng Kai-wei was the only Taiwanese pitcher to take the mound in the major league in the 2025 season. There are left-hander Lin Yu-min (23) of the Arizona Diamondbacks and right-hander Chen Po-yu (25) of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but they are all minor league players.

Above all, it was Deng Kai-wei, who is starting his best from the position of the Taiwanese national team. "Right after I made the decision, I told the national team coach what I thought. I deeply appreciate the understanding and respect that the director sent me. You encouraged and cheered me on for my decision, and it was really meaningful. I sincerely wish the Taiwanese national team well on the WBC. All Taiwanese players coming out of the stadium will do their best and should give them generous support. I will also cheer for the national team with you," he said, concluding the statement.

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*This content was translated by AI.