The overall No. 1 pick in the draft was Chen Po-kai, a tall high school short stop, while former Tohoku Rakuten Eagles player Sotaro Nagata was selected in the second round by Taichang.

On June 29, the draft meeting for Taiwanese professional baseball was held. The Fubon Guardians, holding the right to select the "I'm Number One," selected Chen Bokai (a graduate of Daxi High School), a large short stop who is 187 cm and 80 kilograms. Left-hander pitcher 's older brother, Chen Pinhong, is also affiliated with Fubon, and the brothers became teammates. Chen Bokai, who has the power to make players stand with a wooden bat, was part of the Taiwan national team's training camp for the "BFA U-18 Asia Championship" to be held in Taipei in September, and he is looking forward to facing Japan's strong arm as well.

The biggest highlight for Japanese fans is probably Sotaro Nagata, a former Tohoku Rakuten Eagles infielder and selected second by Taigang (Retsutokubo Biotech).

Nagata, who is from Aichi Prefecture, graduated from Aichi Kikuka High School and then studied abroad at the National Taiwan University of Physical Education. He grew into a leading player in the baseball world at National Taiwan University.

In response to this situation, Taiwan Professional baseball revised its draft regulations at the end of 2021. Those who have been enrolled in a Taiwanese middle or high school for a total of three years or more, those who have continuously attended a university in Taiwan for more than four years, and those who have lived in Taiwan for more than five years and played for a corporate team for at least three years can now participate in the draft as 'Taiwanese players.' This amendment is named after Nagata and is commonly known as the 'Nagata Clause.'

In the 2024 draft, then 35-year-old Masaki Takashio was selected sixth overall from Uni-President, becoming the first "Nagata Clause" draftee. Last season, Takashio recorded 25 hold and won the Best reliever title.

However, Nagata's abilities have been known in Japan as well, and in the fall of 2022, before graduating from university, he was selected in the 4th round of the Nippon Professional baseball draft by Tohoku Rakuten Eagles. Unfortunately, he was not promoted to the main roster, and after being released last offseason, he decided to join the Taiwan Professional baseball. He joined the Taiwanese corporate team Lietbo Biotech, preparing for the draft by participating in the amateur spring league.

Liu Dong-Yang, GM of Taiwan Steel and known for his Japan savvy, said, "He highly valued him. He has experience in Japanese baseball, and as a player, his punchy hitting and ability to defend every position in infield are also attractive. I've heard from acquaintances in Japanese baseball that he is a very dedicated player in practice. ground I hope he becomes a role model both inside and outside the league," he expressed his expectations. He is regarded as an immediate asset, and his debut in the Taiwan Professional baseball first team is likely to be imminent.

There are other examples of players selected under the 'Nagata Clause' in this draft. Rakuten Eagles The Monkeys selected powerful catcher hitter Yuto Shirai (Taipei City University), who won the Home Run title in the UBL college league, in the 7th round, while the CTBC Brothers selected 29-year-old right-hander Koji Ohtaki (Rettokubo Biotech), who can run up to 147 km/h, in the 10th round. Ohtaki was selected in his fourth draft, fulfilling his long-awaited wish. Both are players raised in Japan, with a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother.

Atsuki Isoe, the Rakuten Eagles 's team headquarters manager, explained about Shirai's acquisition: "When I teamed up with pitcher for the first time during a team-hosted test, he was impressively provocative and led the team. That was one of the reasons for his draft."

Additionally, the CITIC Brothers selected Wang Yufei (CTS) with the 11th pick. Wang was seriously injured in the "Puyuma train derailment accident" in October 2018, which resulted in 18 deaths and 215 injuries while playing for the baseball division of Beinan High School, a powerhouse in Taitung County in the southeast. After a long rehabilitation, he made a comeback. This year, in his third year of university, he participated in a test with the Chinatrust Brothers, was discovered by GM Peng Zhengmin, and entered the professional ranks despite being selected last.

Former Giants and The Hawks player Adam Walker joins Rakuten Eagles Monkeys!

The deadline for registering players in the Taiwanese professional baseball, both Taiwanese and foreign players, is August 31st. Teams are beginning to strengthen or replace their foreign players in an effort to win the second half of the season and advance to post season.

Amidst all this, what surprised fans was the simultaneous acquisition of outfielder Ronnie Dawson (US independent league) and outfielder Adam Walker (Oisix Niigata) by Rakuten Eagles Monkeys.

With high school prospects leaving for overseas leagues, Taiwan's professional baseball has suffered from a shortage starter, and for the past decade or so, it has allocated most of its foreign player slots to pitcher, especially starting pitchers. However, with the revision of the coefficient of restitution of the baseballs used, the tendency for "pitchers dominating, hitters dominating" has become more pronounced, and this trend is beginning to change. A successful example of this is Steven Moya of Taiwan Steel.

Therefore, at the start of this season, Fubon acquired Luis Liberto, who had experience playing in the KBO. Ultimately, Liberto left the team in early May due to family reasons, but the trend of strengthening fielder continued, and Rakuten Eagles, which suffered from poor hitting in the first half of the season, made a bold move by simultaneously acquiring two foreign position fielder at the start of the second half.

left-handed hitter Dawson, who arrived in Taiwan earlier, played in six games for the first team but was demoted to the second team for readjustment. Walker, however, made his first-team debut on July 24 against Fubon, and in his second at-bat, he hit a two-run homer off Lee Dong-heng, the current league leader in the slalom derby, into the second deck of left field at Taipei Dome as a "greeting" to his teammates.

On the 26th, he hit a massive two-run homer off Aaron Wilkerson of Fubon, whom he had faced in 2022 when he was with The Giants. He has already hit two home runs in three games, showcasing the power that has allowed him to hit 30 home runs in his NPB career.

CPBL players will also participate in the Asian Games. The manager of the Asian Professional baseball Championship is Takashi Tsuna.

In Taiwan, where international tournaments are highly valued, the topic of representing the national team has already begun. At the 'Nagoya Asian Games' held in late September in Aichi Prefecture, fielder five players from four Taiwanese professional baseball teams have been selected for the baseball events.

In addition to Chen Chen-Wei of outfielder, known as the 'Weida Heavenly Man' of Rakuten Eagles for the 2024 'WBSC Premier12' and this year's Taiwan representative for the WBC Premier12 and this year, Wei Chuan's young main slugger Liu Ji-Hong and two league standouts, Coach Hirano is highly anticipated by Huang Wei-Sheng of the CTBC Brothers infielder, and from Uni-President, Zhu Jia-en of outfielder, who broke out this season, and young catcher Zhang Xiang have been selected.

Additionally, in Japan, on July 25, it was announced that Tadahito Iguchi would be appointed as the new manager of the baseball Japan national team, Samurai Japan, and would take charge starting November 12 at the 'Lagusas Asia Pro baseball Championship 2026' held in Tokyo Dome. However, Taiwan Professional baseball also announced on June 22 that on June 22, Gao Zhigang, who will serve as the unified director and overall coach for both the first and second teams, would become the manager of the Taiwan national team for the tournament.

Mr. Gao Zhigang, 45, played as the starting catcher for Uni-President The Lions for 14 years during his playing days. He was selected for Taiwan's national team at the WBC, Olympics, Premier12, and Asian Games, and as a coach, he served as head coach and battery coach in 2023 and this year's WBC.

The new coach Gao Zhigang will be supported by the WBC Taiwan national team coaches Wang Chien-ming, Gao Guo-hui, Chen Jiang-he, and Zhang Jianming, as well as Uni-President coach Pan Wei-Lun pitcher and Wei Chuan's battery coach Liu Jia-hao.

In addition to eligibility for players born on or after January 1, 2002, or with the club within three years, the tournament allows the selection of three players under 29 years old as an over-age slot.

Since the event is held in November, it is somewhat difficult to predict, but among the eligible age groups, WBC representatives outfielder and Song Shengrui (CITIC), currently the top batting average and hit number one at Taigang Hawks (TSG), and saves leader Chung Yun-hua (Uni-President), as well as Rakuten Eagles Qiang Kawagishi pitcher Coach's secret children Zeng Jiahui, Lin Ziwei, and Liu Jiaxiang, Fubon's head and hitting coach Masahiko Morino are eyeing Wang Nianhao, Wang Yicheng, Kong Nienen, and the WCBC (World College Baseball Championship) representative held this July. Right-hander Wu Lichen (CTBC), nephew of former Lotte player Shang Katsuo, and strong hitter and Kochi Chuo High School graduate who plays infield outfield, Tseng Yu-Ching (Taigang), are also players to look forward to playing in Tokyo Dome.

The more you get to know the opposing teams, the more interesting international tournaments become. Why not check out the Taiwan Pro baseball for the Asian Games and the Asia Pro baseball Championship?

Text by Hide Komada (Information is current as of July 27)