PITTSBURGH -- Tsung-Che Cheng remembered the cake for his wife’s birthday Sunday, but the 23-year-old infielder had to admit that he forgot to prepare for his partner’s big day.
Hey, cut the kid a break. The Minor League season had just started, and Irene’s chocolate cake was homemade, not store bought. He didn’t completely whiff on her birthday.
As the two drove back to Indianapolis after the Pirates’ Triple-A club’s first series, they got a call from manager Chris Truby. Cheng was getting called up to the Majors.
“It feels like this is kind of the best birthday gift for her,” Cheng said, via interpreter Haagen Tan.
Nice save.
This is Cheng’s first trip to The Show. The Pirates’ No. 17 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, had a strong Spring Training, slashing .353/.400/.647, but his limited experience at the highest level of the Minors and the team’s infield depth didn’t really give him a pathway to the Opening Day roster.
That infield depth has taken a sizable hit in the early portion of this season. Nick Gonzales sustained a non-displaced fracture of his left ankle on Opening Day, Spencer Horwitz is still recovering from his wrist surgery and No. 5 prospect Nick Yorke is on the injured list with a right shoulder injury. On Sunday, Jared Triolo was a late scratch after his back locked up, and he was placed on the injured list Monday with a lumbar spine strain.
That opened the door for Cheng, who was already on the team’s 40-man roster. He may have only 11 games of experience at the Triple-A level, but the dream is coming true now. While taking batting practice Monday, looking out to the Clemente Bridge and the Pittsburgh skyline, that fact started to feel more like a reality.
“That’s the moment that makes you feel, ‘Oh, it’s true,’” Cheng said.
Cheng’s calling card as a player is his defense and versatility, being able to play second, shortstop and third, but really excelling up the middle. His 65-grade fielding tool is the best of the Pirates’ Top 30 prospects, and manager Derek Shelton referred to it as “dynamic.”
“I think we saw the full scope of it in Spring Training,” Shelton said. “Regardless if he played second or short, he can really defend. He’s played some third, a little bit in the Minor Leagues. With losing Triolo, we needed someone who could play short as the backup. We felt he fit us the best.”
There is some upside with Cheng's offensive game, too. He had a strong showing this spring, which was an extension of his strong finish in September, when he hit .302 with a .406 on-base percentage between Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis. He doesn’t slug for much, but his speed can help him stretch some hits for extra bases.
Cheng hinted at some tweaks he made to his swing midseason last year that sparked that strong finish.
“[My] swing is really effective, so I’m just trying to keep doing that,” Cheng said.
It’s been a long journey for Cheng to get to this point. He signed as an international free agent in 2019, but he didn’t get into an affiliated game until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the time since, he played for the Chinese Taipei team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he was the starting shortstop for the Team Colombia squad that captured the Caribbean Series championship in 2022 and he was one of the organization’s top position players for their Spring Breakout games.
He’s been in the public light for a while, and now that the dream is coming true, he’s not putting many expectations on what this time in the Majors will bring.
“For now, I just want to enjoy baseball, enjoy playing baseball and try to keep improving every day,” Cheng said.
Alex Stumpf covers the Pirates for MLB.com.