Tsao signals bright future
Rockies' pitching prospect looks good in exhibition outing
By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News
July 14, 2003
CHICAGO - This time Chin-hui Tsao felt like he belonged among the elite minor
league players.
And he pitched like it.
The pride of the Colorado Rockies farm system, Tsao is a two-time selection
for the Futures Game, a part of the All-Star Game festivities that features
baseball's top prospects.
Tsao definitely earned this spot among the minor league elite, along with
Rockies outfield prospect Rene Reyes, who is hitting .343 at Class AAA
Colorado Springs.
Tsao, who is with Class AA Tulsa, is leading the Texas League in strikeouts
(118 in 105 1/3 innings), and ranks second in earned-run average (2.52) and
third in wins (10-4). The next step for Tsao will be to make the jump from
Tulsa to the big leagues, probably in September. But if the Rockies have an
injury to a member of their rotation, Tsao's arrival at Coors Field will be
expedited.
And it will be a big deal. He will be the first Taiwanese pitcher to make it
to the big leagues.
Nobody knows him better than Tim Ireland, now the manager of Texas' affiliate
at Frisco. Ireland was the Rockies' Pacific Rim coordinator who signed Tsao
from Taiwan in October 1999 for a then-franchise record bonus of $2.2 million.
"He is the best prospect in the league," Ireland said. "There are very few
players I can say this about, but he was born to pitch. He's an athlete. He
has command. He's a competitor. When you see him on the mound, you realize he
just has that feel for what he is doing."
On Sunday, when the U.S. team defeated the World Team 3-2, he gave the folks
at U.S. Cellular Field a glimpse, coming in to pitch the fifth inning for the
World team. He needed only eight pitches to get three outs. He began his
one-inning effort with a strikeout of Houston infield prospect Chris Burke.
J.J. Hardy singled, but was thrown out trying to steal, and Dave Krunzel
popped up to right.
"Special," said Ireland, who was a coach for the United States team. "I was
hoping the Rockies would bring him up at the (All-Star break) so we wouldn't
have to face him anymore."
That isn't likely. The Rockies are pretty well set with their second-half
rotation. Shawn Chacon will come off the disabled list to join Jason Jennings,
Denny Stark, Darren Oliver and Denny Neagle. And it isn't likely the Rockies
would want to experiment with Tsao in the bullpen. He has the type of potential
to be a legitimate No. 1 starter, and it was slightly more than a year ago
that he returned from reconstructive surgery on his right elbow.
The elbow has held up fine.
"He has the velocity he had before the injury, maybe a little more," Ireland
said. "His slider isn't quite the same pitch it was before, but that may be by
design. There were concerns it might put too much strain on the elbow because
there was so much torque. But his changeup is a quality pitch now."
Tsao said he has reached a point where he has no concerns about his health.
At the age of 22, he can be philosophical about the injury now.
He said from an overall standpoint, he actually might have benefited from not
pitching for a year. He was able to concentrate on the social and cultural
adjustments to the United States, including getting to a point where he can
converse in English.
"I grew up," he said. "Mentally, my game is better."
Tsao agrees with Ireland that the slider that was such a devastating pitch has
been adjusted.
"It's more of a cutter," he said, meaning there is less of a break. "I use it
mostly for left-handed hitters."
But he believes he has improved as a pitcher. He began throwing a two- seam
fastball, which has a sinking action, two weeks ago, and has been surprised
by how quickly that pitch has been refined. And he gets a big smile when the
changeup is mentioned.
"That's become a very big pitch for me," he said.
And Ireland predicts Tsao will become a very big part of the Rockies rotation,
quickly.
"He's so comfortable with the environment," Ireland said. "I remember when we
brought him to Coors Field to sign him. Most 18-year-olds would be in awe.
"Not Tsao. He'd played in front of 50,000 fans in high school when he was on
Taiwan's national tournament team. He pitched in Korea in the Olympic
qualifying."
Ireland had a flashback.
"Remember the spring of 2000?" he asked. "He pitched that inning against
Seattle. They televised it back to Taiwan, live. What'd he do?"
He threw 11 pitches, working a 1-2-3 inning, and struck out Carlos Guillen and
John Mabry on three pitches each.
原文
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/rockies/article/0,1299,DRMN_19_2107482,
00.html
曹錦輝投球正面圖片
http://mas.scripps.com/DRMN/2003/07/13/s2ro-futures_e.jpg
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