Taiwan Unveils Its Preliminary WBC Roster

Top MLB prospects Hao-Yu Lee and Wei-En Lin headline Team Taiwan's roster

The sole surprise in the unveiling of Team Taiwan’s preliminary 30-man roster in the 2026 World Baseball Classic was 35-year-old left-handed pitcher Kuan-Yu Chen, who will be the first Taiwanese player to play in three Premier12 tournaments (2015, 2019, 2024) and three WBC tournaments (2017, 2023, and now 2026). The roster, officially published this week, was in line with the unconfirmed list that made its way around the web a few weeks ago.

Some updated statistics:

• 15 players (9 pitchers) are from teams abroad, representing 50% of the roster¹

• 3 players, including Athletics prospect Wei-En Lin, are 20 years old

• 2 players, Stuart Fairchild and Jonathon Long, are Taiwanese Americans

FOX Sports’ Rowan Kavner had Taiwan ranked 17 out of 20 in his WBC power rankings. Naming Yu Chang as the team’s “player to watch” and listing him as a shortstop, Kavner evidently has not paid much attention to the team. Chang spent most of 2025 at first base, and he may not even be the best first baseman on the team, with Cubs prospect Jonathon Long officially joining Team Taiwan.

Meanwhile, CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa had Taiwan ranked 18, squarely in the “just happy to be here” bucket, earlier this week. Chris Landers at FanSided was more generous, putting Taiwan at 16 but also calling it out as being a potential Cinderella from this bottom-tier group. Landers highlights Tigers prospect infielder Hao-Yu Lee as someone to watch.

Team Taiwan began its training camp in mid-January (Photo: Tsai Chi-chang)

Indeed, Hao-Yu Lee may well be the next Taiwanese player, the 19th ever, to play in an MLB game. He is the No. 3 third-base prospect per MLB Pipeline and is versatile defensively, splitting time between second and third base. He set career highs in extra-base hits, home runs, and stolen bases in 2025. He just turned 23.

Athletics left-hander Wei-En Lin is the other player to watch. Dubbed the “Taiwanese Snellzilla” by A’s assistant general manager Billy Owens, Lin has been able to garner strikeouts at the lower levels of the minor leagues. He was sent up to Double-A Midland last season. The buzz around him has grown considerably over the past year, and many, including Owens, are preparing to see his 2027 or 2028 ETA to reach MLB accelerate.

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Pitchers

• Chun-Wei Chang, LHP (NPB development, SoftBank Hawks)²

• Yi Chang, RHP (CPBL, Fubon Guardians)

• *NEW* Kuan-Yu Chen, LHP (CPBL, Rakuten Monkeys)

• Po-Yu Chen, RHP (Triple-A, Pittsburgh Pirates)

• Hao-Chun Cheng, RHP (CPBL, CTBC Brothers)

• Hsin-Yen Chuang, RHP (CPBL, Rakuten Monkeys)

• Ruei-Yang Gu Lin, RHP (NPB, Nippon-Ham Fighters)

• Jo-Hsi Hsu, RHP (NPB, SoftBank Hawks)

• Chih-Wei Hu, RHP (CPBL, Uni-President Lions)

• Yin-Hao Lai, RHP (CPBL, Rakuten Monkeys)

• Tung-Ming Li, RHP (CPBL, Fubon Guardians)

• Chen-Wei Lin, RHP (Double-A, St. Louis Cardinals)

• Kai-Wei Lin, RHP (CPBL, Wei Chuan Dragons)

• Shi-Xiang Lin, RHP (CPBL, TSG Hawks)³

• Wei-En Lin, LHP (Double-A, Athletics)

• Yu-Min Lin, LHP (Triple-A, Arizona Diamondbacks)

• Chia-Hao Sung, RHP (NPB, Rakuten Golden Eagles)

• Tzu-Chen Sha, RHP (High-A, Athletics)

• Yi-Lei Sun, RHP (NPB, Nippon-Ham Fighters)

• Jyun-Yue Tseng, RHP (CPBL, Fubon Guardians)

• Yan-Cheng Wang, LHP (KBO, Hanwha Eagles)

• Hong-Liang Wei, RHP (CPBL, TSG Hawks)

• Chun-Wei Wu, RHP (CPBL, CTBC Brothers)

• Zhong-Ao Zhuang Chen, RHP (Double-A, Athletics)

Catchers

• Shao-Hung Chiang (CPBL, Wei Chuan Dragons)

• Pei-Feng Dai (CPBL, Fubon Guardians)

• Giljegiljaw Kungkuan (CPBL, Fubon Guardians)

• Lyle Lin (free agent)

Infielders

• Cheng-Yu Chang, SS (CPBL, Wei Chuan Dragons)

• Yu Chang, 1B (CPBL, Fubon Guardians)

• Tsung-Che Cheng, SS (Triple-A, DFA’d by the Nationals)

• Kun-Yu Chiang, SS (CPBL, CTBC Brothers)

• Hao-Yu Lee, 2B/3B (Triple-A, Detroit Tigers)

• Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B (CPBL, Rakuten Monkeys)

• Jonathon Long, 1B (Triple-A, Chicago Cubs)

• Po-Hsuan Wang, 2B/OF (CPBL, TSG Hawks)

• Nien-Ting Wu, 3B (CPBL, TSG Hawks)

Outfielders

• Chen-Wei Chen (CPBL, Rakuten Monkeys)

• Chieh-Hsien Chen (CPBL, Uni-President Lions)

• Chih-Cheng Chiu (CPBL, Uni-President Lions)

• Stuart Fairchild (MLB/Triple-A, Cleveland Guardians)

• Ching-Hsien Ko (Single-A, Los Angeles Dodgers)

• An-Ko Lin (NPB, Seibu Lions)

• Cheng-Jui Sung (CPBL, CTBC Brothers)

1. This count, again, includes Lyle Lin, who last played in the American Association.

2. Chang is registered as Jun-Wei Zhang on MLB.com.

3. Lin is registered as Shih-Hsiang Lin on MLB.com.