Chin-hui Tsao #71

Chin-hui Tsao...single...single...has represented his country in five major competitions, including the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece...made two appearances for Chinese Taipei in the 2004 Summer Games, going 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA and one save...he also pitched for Taiwan in the International Baseball Association's Junior World Championships (1996- 97, '99) and the 1999 Asia Cup, which qualified teams for the 2000 Olympics...in October 1997, he was selected to join Hideo Nomo and Ken Griffey, Jr. at a baseball clinic that toured the world...current teammate Hong-Chih Kuo was the third Taiwanese born pitcher to appear in the Major Leagues...in 2000, took an advanced English class at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colo.,...also enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado, studying English and kinesiology... served a military requirement in Taiwan of 12 days during the off-season before 2005 Spring Training...signed by former Rockies Pacific Rim Coordinator Tim Ireland...the Rockies could not have signed the right-hander without the efforts of Ming Harber, a resident of Greeley, Colo., who had worked under Charlie Monfort...Ming was instrumental in communication between Tsao's family and Rockies representatives in Taiwan...some people still refer to him as Tsao Chin-hui instead of Chin-hui Tsao, though either way can be accurate...Tsao is his last name, the name on back of his jersey...but in Taiwan, like many Asian countries, the family name is said first, followed by the individual's name.

2006

Missed the entire season due to surgery to repair a torn labrum and a debridement of the right rotator cuff performed by Dr. Thomas J. Noonan in Denver on May 25, 2005... Spent time during his rehabilitation in Denver and Tuscon, but did not appear in a competitive contest.

2005

Originally slated to be the Rockies' closer, Tsao was sidelined by a pair of right shoulder injuries and would eventually require season-ending surgery...appeared in just 10 games for Colorado this season, going 1-0 with a 6.55 ERA (11.0 ip, 8 er)...converted 3 of 4 save opportunities...allowed runs in 5 of 10 appearances and permitted at least one hit in 9 of 10 outings...retired 4 of 10 first batters faced...was hampered by shoulder problems over the final 2 weeks of spring training and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 2 (retroactive to March 25) with right shoulder inflammation...had been slated to make the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career as the club's closer...made a pair of rehab appearances with Colorado Springs and Modesto...was activated on April 12 and made his first appearance the following day at Arizona, tossing a scoreless inning in Rockies' 5-2 defeat...earned first save in next appearance on April 16 vs. San Francisco despite allowing a 2-run homer to Michael Tucker in the 9th inning of a 5-4 Colorado victory...allowed 2 runs over 3 outings and 4.0 innings from April 29-May 7...converted 3rd and final save on May 9 vs. Atlanta, retiring all 3 batters faced with 2 K's...next appearance on May 11 vs. Atlanta would be his last, earning win despite allowing 3 runs and 4 hits in his only blown save of the year...would go on disabled list again on May 13 (retroactive to May 12) with right shoulder inflammation...by May 20, it was determined that the injury was a torn labrum, and Tsao underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Denver on May 25...Dr. Thomas J. Noonan, Colorado's Medical Director, performed the surgery to repair a torn labrum and a debridement of the right rotator cuff...was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 26.

2004

Tsao overcame a string of lingering injuries to contribute to the Rockies bullpen down the stretch...began the season on the minor league disabled list (April 8-June 15) due to right shoulder inflammation... including rehabilitation time, he made stops at Class A, Double A, and Triple A, posting a combined 3-2 record with a 4.54 ERA, striking out 38 while walking just 8 in 35.2 innings...was slowed by a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand but still made two appearances for Chinese Taipei at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, going 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 1 save...after returning from the Summer Games, was recalled on Sept. 13 and pitched in 10 contests for the Rockies, all in relief...he posted a 3.86 ERA with 1 save and 11 strikeouts in 9.1 innings of work...was especially tough on righthanded batters, holding them to a .143 average against (3-for-21)...earned his first professional save Sept. 29 at Dodger Stadium, tossing a 1-2-3 ninth inning...followed his first career save with his first career blown save the very next day (Sept. 30 at LA)...entering the season, Tsao was rated as Colorado's No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America, the third time he's been so honored in the past four years.

2003

Chin-hui Tsao became the first Taiwanese pitcher to ever compete in a Major League game when he took the mound for his much-anticipated debut on July 25 vs. Milwaukee...not only was the game broadcast overseas but MLB International received approximately 900 requests from the Far East region for television highlights of the contest...Tsao gave up 3 runs on 8 hits over 6.1 innings with a walk and 5 strikeouts in earning a 7-3 victory over the Brewers...he would remain with the Rockies for the rest of the year, starting eight games with one relief appearance as well as a two-week stay on the DL...the 22-year old experienced the usual ups-and-downs associated with facing big league hitters for the first time but no doubt showed signs of a very bright future indeed...Tsao was 3-3 with a 6.02 ERA, allowing 48 hits and 29 earned runs in 43.1 innings of work...did not exceed the 50.0 innings mark and thus will retain his rookie status for 2004...served up 11 home runs, an average of 2.3 HR per nine innings...gave up 4 of those in the first inning, including leadoff homers to Eric Young on July 25 vs. Milwaukee and Marlon Byrd Aug. 5 vs. Philly...notoriously a slow starter, the opposition batted .338 off Tsao the first time through the lineup (22-for-65) but just a combined .235 their second and third time through (24-for-102)...had more success against right-handers, as RHB hit .267 (27-for-101) while striking out once every 5 at-bats (20 K's), while lefties hit .309 (21-for-68) while fanning once every 7 AB (9 K's)...at Coors Field, Tsao went 3-2 with an even 5.00 ERA in five starts (27.0 ip, 15 er)...on the road, was 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in four games, three starts (16.1 ip, 14 er)...the Rox were 5-4 in games he started...batted .154 (2-for-13) at the plate and had Colorado's only hit during Steve Trachsel's one-hit shutout against the Rockies on Aug. 18 at Shea...Tsao has been the club's top prospect ever since joining the organization in 1999, and he did nothing but cement that with his work at Double A this year...he enjoyed a season as good as any pitcher in the minors, being named a mid-season and post-season Texas League All-Star as well as a Double A All-Star by Baseball America...that publication tabbed Tsao as the Texas League's No. 1 prospect following the year and he also garnered recognition on The Sporting News and Sportsticker all prospect teams for 2003...in 18 starts for Tulsa, Tsao went 11-4 with a 2.46 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 113.1 innings...won the league ERA title despite missing the final five weeks after joining the Rockies...at the time of his recall, Tsao was pacing the circuit in strikeouts and his 11 wins ranked second...walked almost 100 fewer batters than he struckout (125 to 26) and averaged just under 10 K's per nine innings...consistent all season, Tsao worked at least 6.0 innings in each of his last 12 starts and 14 of 18 for the year...participated in the Texas League All-Star Game June 16 at Wichita and represented the World Team at the All-Star Futures Game in Chicago on July 13, working 1.0 inning with 1 hit and 1 K...recalled from Tulsa on July 25, Tsao joined Dodger outfielder Chin-Feng Chen as the only Taiwanese players to ever make a major league roster...made his ML debut that night and earned a 7-3 victory over the Brewers...surrendered a home run to Eric Young on the second pitch of the game to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead...after yielding 3 consecutive hits that lead another run in the second, Tsao gradually settled down to hold Milwaukee to just 3 hits and 1 run over his final 4.1 innings of work...became the sixth pitcher in club history to win his major league debut, last done by Jason Jennings on Aug. 23, 2001 at New York-NL...no decision in his second start July 31 at Cincinnati (4.1 ip, 8 h, 4 er)...then came back with a 5-1 win over Philadelphia on Aug. 6 in Denver...once again gave up a leadoff HR to open the contest but that was all the Phillies would get...after yielding a single to Abreu with two outs in the first, Philadelphia did not manage another base hit through Tsao's final 5.1 innings of work...was 2-0 in his first four ML starts but then lost each of his next three in which he allowed 16 earned runs in 14.1 innings...lost an 8-0 decision at Shea Stadium for his first ML loss on Aug. 18...saw 14 baserunners in 5.2 innings, leading to 7 runs on 10 hits with 3 walks and no strikeouts... his counterpart Steve Trachsel on the other hand was brilliant, yielding just 1 hit in a complete-game shutout...Trachsel had a perfect game into the sixth before Tsao broke it up with a two-out double to dead center for his first ML hit...was in the midst of what was his finest ML start on Aug. 23 vs. Atlanta...retired 12 of his first 13 Braves hitters, allowing only a Javy Lopez single through four innings...but in the bottom half of the fourth, Tsao injured his hamstring while scoring from first base on a Ronnie Belliard double...he was obviously not the same pitcher after that, as Atlanta touched him for 5 runs on 5 hits in the fifth before being pulled in what was a 5-4 Braves win...placed on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 27 (retro to Aug. 24) with a left hamstring strain, Tsao missed 18 games during which Colorado won just four times (4-14)...reinstated Sept. 16 and suffered his third straight loss, a 14-4 defeat at the hands of the Astros that night (4.0 ip, 5 r, 4 er)...made his final start Sept. 21 vs. San Diego and turned in a good one, 2 runs on 5 hits over 6.0 innings with a career-high 7 strikeouts...his last appearance came in relief, as he worked a scoreless IP on Sept. 27 at Qualcomm Stadium.

2002

Recovering from surgery the previous summer, Tsao began the year with three rehab starts at short-season Tri Cities of the Northwest League, June 18-28...did not allow an earned run in any of his three outings, covering 11.0 innings with only 2 walks and 16 strikeouts...moved up to Salem and went 4-2 with a 2.09 ERA (47.1 ip, 11 er) in nine starts...made his High A debut July 4 at Lynchburg (2.0 ip, 3 h, 2 er, 1 BB, 0 K)...after giving up 4 runs in his first two starts (6.0 ip), he surrendered only 7 earned runs in his last seven outings and 42.1 innings (1.49 ERA)...posted a 19.0 scoreless innings streak, July 30-Aug. 15...struck out 10 with one walk in 7.0 shutout innings on Aug. 4 vs. Kinston...was named Rockies Pitcher of the Month for August, compiling a 3-1 record with a 0.81 ERA (33.1 ip, 3 er)...worked a season-high 8.2 innings on Aug. 20 vs. Winston-Salem, allowing just 1 earned run on 4 hits...then, in his final start of the year, Aug. 25 vs. Frederick, Tsao tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, surrendering just 3 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts in a victory...combined at the two stops, the righty averaged 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings (61K/58.1 ip) and 2.2 walks per 9.0 ip (14BB/58.1).

2001: Saw action in only four contests with High A Salem before undergoing reconstructive right elbow surgery on May 23 at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Englewood, Colo...missed the rest of the year. 2000: The right-hander made his pro debut as a 19-year old and started the South Atlantic League All-Star Game (A)...his 2.73 ERA led all Rockies pitchers, the second lowest in the league...tied teammate Julio de Paula for tops in the system with 187 strikeouts...finished with a league-best 11.61 strikeouts per nine innings ratio...won his first pro appearance, an April 6 start vs. Piedmont, fanning 10 of the 20 batters he faced...struck out 13 in three different outings throughout the year...on May 19 vs. Charleston, WV, he took a no-hitter into the seventh, fanning 13 in a 7-2 win.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER: Tsao has represented his country in four major competitions: the International Baseball Association's Junior World Championships (1996-97, '99) and the 1999 Asia Cup, which qualified teams for the 2000 Olympics...at the '99 Junior World Championships, hosted by Taiwan, Tsao made three starts, going 3-0 and not allowing a run in 23.0 innings...struckout 30 and walked only one...the team's only amateur at the Asia Cup, he made three appearances without allowing a run (11.0 ip)...made his international debut at the 1997 World Juniors...in October of '97, he was selected to join Hideo Nomo and Ken Griffey, Jr. at a baseball clinic that toured the world.

1999

At an April competition in Japan, scouts clocked a Tsao fastball at 97 mph...in August at the Junior World Championships, hosted by Taiwan, Tsao made three starts (3-0, 23.0 IP, 10 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 30 K)...he blanked Panama Aug. 1, sending his team to the championship game, a 10-9 loss to Team USA...the team's only amateur at the Asia Cup, he made three appearances (11.0 IP, 3H, 0 R, 1 BB, 19 K)...in his only start, a one-hit shutout vs. China, he fanned 15 on one walk.

1998

In August, he made his international debut, at the Junior World Championships...in October, he was selected to join Hideo Nomo and Ken Griffey, Jr. at a baseball clinic that toured the world.