MIAMI — The St. Louis Cardinals on Monday signed right-handed pitcher Chen-Wei Lin, the franchise’s first player signed out of Taiwan.
The 21-year-old Lin is a native of Tainan City, Taiwan, and played college baseball at Chinese Culture University in Taipei. He pitched in nine games for the Kenosha, Wisconsin, Kingfish last summer in the collegiate league in his United States debut.
Lin was also an invited college player for the Taiwanese World Baseball Classic team earlier this year in their preparation camp.
He will soon report to the Cardinals’ facility in Jupiter, Florida.
Lin, who is 6-foot-7, made four starts and had a 3.24 ERA this summer for the Frederick Keys, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League.
Lin’s uncle, Hong-Chih Kuo, pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers for seven seasons from 2005-2011. He had a 3.73 ERA in 218 career appearances after signing as an international free agent with the Dodgers in 1999.