"Taiwan baseball growth is scary!' Pitcher, who declined to play in WBC, joins the opening roster → 7 years after Chen Wei-in in 2019

*This content was translated by AI.

The power of Taiwanese baseball, which has grown rapidly, has once again been proven on the Major League Baseball (MLB) stage. Deng Kai-wei (27), a right-hander who drew attention by refusing to join the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) due to roster competition, joined the Houston Astros opening roster in a surprise move, signaling a big league settlement.

The Houston club officially announced on the 27th (Korea Standard Time) that it included Deng Kai-wei, who was acquired in January from the San Francisco Giants, in the opening roster announced on the 26th, a day before the opening game with the Los Angeles Angels.

According to multiple media outlets, including Focus Taiwan, it is the first time in seven years that a Taiwanese pitcher has been on the Major League's opening roster since Chen Wei-yin (41, now retired), a member of the Miami Marlins in 2019. Including the fielders, a Taiwanese player entered the opening entry of the Major League for the second consecutive year, following infielder Zhang Yu-cheng (31, current Fubang Guardians), who was a member of the Boston Red Sox in the 2025 season.

Deng Kai-wei made his big league debut in San Francisco in the middle of the 2025 season and recorded two wins and four losses and an ERA of 6.37 in eight games (7 starts). It was not a very overwhelming performance, but he showed potential by striking out 39 in 29 ⅔ innings. He changed to a Houston uniform through a trade in January.

His performance in this year's exhibition game was even fiercer. He pitched a perfect 2.53 ERA in six games (one start) and gave up only three runs in 10 ⅔ innings. In particular, he gained the Houston coaching staff's solid trust based on his sophisticated ball control.

In January, Deng Kai-wei also expressed his intention to test for the WBC Taiwan national team. Deng Ka-wei, who gave an official explanation through the Taiwanese agency on January 9, announced, "After repeatedly contemplating and discussing with my family and teammates, I decided to make a difficult decision to politely decline the invitation to the WBC national team."

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, absence was the only decision I could make," he said.

At the same time, Deng was also seen building up at the U.S. pitching academy, Tread Athletics, for the 2026 season. The Major League's official website, MLB.com , classified Deng as a "long relief" resource and analyzed that he will play a role in the bullpen.

Deng Ka-wei, who once caused an issue in Taiwan regarding the transfer of the national team, started the 2026 season splendidly by proving his value with his skills. Fans are paying attention to whether he, who has emerged as a new hope for Taiwanese baseball, will be able to completely settle down beyond the "trustman" of the Houston bullpen.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.