Fresh off international glory, Chinese Taipei riding momentum into Classic

The last time Hao-Jin Tseng was in the World Baseball Classic, he was serving as the hitting coach for Team Chinese Taipei in 2023. Three years later, he’ll be back on that same international stage, this time as the club’s manager. With this transition to a bigger role, opponents may notice a different approach from him than the one they saw at the last WBC.

“Not as much smiling,” Tseng said via translator Chien-Ting Lin at MLB’s Winter Meetings in December. “With more responsibilities, I always show them a poker face.”

The new approach seemed to work wonders back in November of 2024, when, under Tseng's watch, Team Chinese Taipei won its first gold medal at the senior level during the Premier12 tournament. And though Tseng will be doing his best to mask his feelings again come this March, his club is undoubtedly eager to ride that momentum and return to the Classic after its thrilling 2023 run on home soil came to a heartbreaking end. With high expectations and a slew of formidable group play foes, Team Chinese Taipei heads to Tokyo this March vying to advance beyond its pool for the first time since 2013.

2023 WBC Performance

Team Chinese Taipei endured a roller-coaster 2023 World Baseball Classic experience while playing in front of home fans whose trademark stadium atmosphere caught the baseball world by storm. After dropping its opening Pool A game against Panama, Chinese Taipei rallied late to topple Italy before beating the Netherlands the next day, thanks in part to a supernova performance from infielder and former big leaguer Yu Chang. But a lopsided loss to Cuba left the club at 2-2 at group play’s end and, despite being tied with every other team in the pool, eliminated from the tournament due to a tiebreaker.

As a result, Chinese Taipei needed to play in the 2025 qualifier in order to earn a spot in the ‘26 WBC. It wasn’t an expected scenario for a club the World Baseball and Softball Confederation ranked as No. 2 on the planet, but Chinese Taipei got the result it needed. Thanks to yet another dominant performance from Chang on an international stage (.389 average with four doubles and a homer), the players secured the chance to try to advance to the quarterfinal round that eluded them in 2023.

2025 WBC schedule

For several reasons, Chinese Taipei’s schedule will be much more difficult this time than it was in 2023. Not only does Pool C include a talented South Korean team, it also features reigning champion Samurai Japan, led by 2023 WBC MVP Shohei Ohtani. If that wasn’t enough, all games will be played on Japan’s home turf at the Tokyo Dome. Intimidating as the challenge may seem, Tseng and his club are not shying away from how much they look forward to battling baseball’s best.

“Japan is a world-class national team,” Tseng said. “Every time we face Samurai Japan, we are so excited to have the opportunity. That’s all we’re thinking about -- what we can do to try and do our best as performers.”

Chinese Taipei opens group play on March 5 at 10:00 p.m. EST against Team Australia, ranked No. 11 by the WBSC. That’s all the warmup the club will get before battling Japan the very next day at 5 a.m. EST. A bout with Team Czechia follows on March 7 at 10 p.m. EST before Chinese Taipei completes group play with a March 8 game against South Korea at 10 p.m.

Best WBC performance

Chang established sky-high expectations for the upcoming tournament thanks to the otherworldly showing he put up in 2023. After initially passing on the opportunity to play for Chinese Taipei, Chang put to rest any idea that he’d be simply going through the motions, batting .438 with eight RBIs, two doubles and a pair of homers, including a second-inning grand slam that sparked his club against the Netherlands. It was more than enough to secure Chang MVP honors for his group.

Biggest games in team history

If there’s any upside to Chinese Taipei having a vaunted Japanese club waiting for it at the Tokyo Dome for group play, it’s the fact that the club’s biggest international moment took place against the same team in the very same venue on November 24, 2024.

Before that day, a silver-medal finish in the 1992 Olympics represented the peak of Chinese Taipei’s international achievements. But in the gold medal game of the Premier12 tournament, facing a Samurai Japan club that had won 27 straight contests, Chinese Taipei put together an upset the likes of which nobody expected. Not only did the club hand Japan its first loss since 2019, it did so by way of a shutout, pulling off a 4-0 victory that left the home crowd in stunned disbelief.

After having not once medaled in the Premier12 tournament, nor winning any major international tournament at a senior level, Chinese Taipei finally accomplished both feats by way of bringing home the gold against the best team on the planet.

Notable MLB Players who may join the team

Chinese Taipei made a push to bring All-Star-caliber talent to its 2026 WBC roster, extending an invite to 2022 NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll. Though the D-backs’ star has roots there thanks to his mother, Carroll ultimately passed and joined Team USA.

Stuart Fairchild, who just signed a Minor League deal with the Guardians, and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng, who made a brief big league cameo with the Pirates last season, have also been linked to Team Chinese Taipei.

Along with Chang, former Twins and Red Sox outfielder Tzu-Wei Lin is likely to return after playing for Chinese Taipei in 2023. Though he had just one hit that year -- a solo homer -- he tallied three RBIs and a .588 OBP during the 2025 qualifier.

Minor League prospects who may join the team

One of the bigger prospects linked to Team Chinese Taipei is Jonathan Long, the Cubs’ No. 6 prospect. A ninth-round pick in the 2023 Draft, Long made huge strides in his development last year with Triple-A Iowa, slashing .305/.404/.479 with 20 homers, 23 doubles and 91 RBIs. Such a strong showing during his first year in the Minors’ highest tier earned him the Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Year award.

Hao-Yu Lee, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Tigers’ No. 6 prospect, has also been linked to Team Chinese Taipei. Lee just wrapped up his first season at the Triple-A level, tallying 45 extra-base hits, 61 RBIs and a .748 OPS. He has reportedly received an invite to play for Chinese Taipei.

Story to watch

Chang’s ability to continue his torrid performance on the international stage will certainly be worth keeping an eye on, but it will also be needed if Chinese Taipei wants to advance out of one of the most imposing groups in the tournament. Doing so will require outplaying supremely stacked competition without the help from hometown fans it had in 2023.

How Tseng handles his duties as a first-time WBC manager with such high stakes will also be one of the biggest storylines to focus on. His team carries high expectations, with the bar set even higher after its Premier12 stunner. But if there were ever a feather in the cap big enough to prove Tseng can unite his team to accomplish great things, Chinese Taipei’s gold-medal triumph certainly fits the bill.

Questions ahead of the upcoming tournament

The biggest question facing Chinese Taipei is simple -- does the club have what it takes to pull off yet another upset over Japan? The team it toppled in the Premier12 tournament didn’t feature 2023 WBC standouts like Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and it’ll likely be out to avenge such a stunning defeat.

And, after just barely missing out on advancing from group play in 2023, will the outcome improve this time under the watchful eye of a new manager? The deck is stacked high against Tseng in his WBC managerial debut, and getting Chinese Taipei out of group play for the first time in 13 years will be no easy feat.

But if the task has him on edge, he certainly isn’t letting on.

“I’m really excited to have this opportunity, to get involved with this top-tier international competition,” Tseng said. “Not just me, our players and even coaches are preparing to do their best. They want to show their best skills to fans around the world.”