Cheng Tsung-che (; born July 26, 2001) is a Taiwanese baseball infielder in the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

organization.

Career

Cheng, a native of

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

, Taiwan, signed with the

out of

Pu-Men High School Pu-Men High School (Fo Guang Shan Pu-Men High School) (Traditional Chinese: 普門中學 or 佛光山私立普門中學) is a private Buddhist high school located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The school is affiliated with the Fo Guang Sh ...

as an international free agent on July 2, 2019, for a signing bonus of $380,000. Shortly after signing, he competed in the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup. Cheng made his professional debut with the Florida Complex League Pirates in 2021, and played second base, third base, and shortstop throughout the season. After the 2021 minor league season ended, Cheng played winter ball with the

Caimanes de Barranquilla The Caimanes de Barranquilla are a baseball team in the Colombian Professional Baseball League. They have participated in the league since the 1984–1985 season, playing in the 12,000-capacity Estadio Édgar Rentería in Barranquilla. The Cai ...

, winning the

2022 Caribbean Series The 2022 Caribbean Series marked the 64th edition of the Caribbean Series from January 28 through February 3, 2022, played at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The series brought together the champions of each professional ...

. Cheng spent the 2022 Minor League Baseball season with the

Bradenton Marauders The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as th ...

, playing shortstop more frequently. He appeared in 104 games, hit for a .270 batting average, .376 on-base percentage, and a .794 on-base plus slugging percentage, while scoring 79 runs. Of his 38 extra-base hits, seven were triples. He led the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in triples and runs scored, finished second in on-base percentage, fourth in batting average, and fifth in on-base plus slugging percentage. Cheng's 33 stolen bases in 39 attempts led all minor leaguers within the Pirates organization. At the end of the 2022 minor league season, Chang was assigned to the Gigantes de Carolina of the

Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

. He was subsequently named to 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 ...

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

* * 2001 births Living people Bradenton Marauders players People from Pingtung County Gigantes de Carolina players Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in the United States World Baseball Classic players Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente infielders Florida Complex League Pirates players {{Taiwan-baseball-bio-stub