Kai-Wei Teng (born December 1, 1998) is a Taiwanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

organization.

Career

Minnesota Twins

On October 20, 2017, the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

signed Teng for a $500,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie–level

Gulf Coast League Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, the ...

in 2018, making 10 appearances (9 starts) and posting a 3.59 ERA with 47 strikeouts in innings pitched. He began the 2019 season with the

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels are owned ...

of the Single–A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, and was named the league's pitcher of the week for the week ending July 14. In 9 games for Cedar Rapids, Teng logged a 4–0 record and 1.60 ERA.

San Francisco Giants

On July 31, 2019, the Twins traded Teng,

Jaylin Davis Jaylin Malik Davis (born July 1, 1994) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. He played college baseb ...

, and

Prelander Berroa Prelander Berroa (born April 18, 2000) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners. Career Minnesota Twins Berroa signed with the ...

to the

in exchange for

Sam Dyson Samuel Isaac Dyson (born May 7, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, Texas Rangers, San F ...

. He made 5 starts for the Single–A

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previous ...

, recording a 1.55 ERA with 39 strikeouts across innings of work. Teng did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On June 2, 2021, while pitching for the High–A

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

, he was suspended for 10 games after umpires found a foreign substance in his glove. In 21 starts for Eugene, Teng recorded a 4.33 ERA with 142 strikeouts in innings of work. Teng spent the 2022 season with the Double–A

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

, making 28 starts and registering a 6–12 record and 5.22 ERA with a career–high 169 strikeouts in innings pitched. Teng began the 2023 season back with Double–A Richmond, starting 12 games and posting a 4.75 ERA with 68 strikeouts in innings of work. On June 18, 2023, he was promoted to the Triple–A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

International career

Teng played for the

Chinese Taipei national baseball team The Chinese Taipei baseball team () is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederat ...

in the

2019 Asian Baseball Championship The 29th 2019 Asian Baseball Championship was the international baseball competition for Asian men's national teams. It was held in Taichung and Yunlin, Taiwan, on October 14 to 20, 2019. Chinese Taipei and China, the top two finishers, excluding ...

, pitching in the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

game against Japan, which Chinese Taipei won. He is included on their roster for the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

References

External links

Living people 1998 births Sportspeople from Taichung Taiwanese baseball players Baseball pitchers Gulf Coast Twins players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Augusta GreenJackets players Eugene Emeralds players Richmond Flying Squirrels players 2023 World Baseball Classic players {{Taiwan-baseball-pitcher-stub