Chin-Hui Tsao: The latest foreign pitching prospect to make a big
splash in this country. Tsao debuted this season at Ashville in the South
Atlantic League where he went 11-8 with a 2.73 ERA, 119 hits allowed, 40
walks, and 187 strikeouts in 145 innings (24 starts). He showed a very
good mid-90s fastball, slider, and changeup in his arsenal.
At
6-foot-1 and about 180 pounds, Tsao was pursued by several organizations
including the likes of the Braves and Dodgers before signing with Colorado
in 1999. Before the season started, he spent time taking English course at
Northern Colorado in order to help him adjust to this drastic culture
change.
The question with Tsao is will he have a career similar to
other foreign pitchers (Nomo, etc.) or will he be the one who ecomes
a dominate force for year's with the Rockies? It's going to be extra tough
having to pitch in Coor's often but Tsao has the makeup and talent to be
the best foreign picher to come to professional baseball in this country.
if you think of the Dodgers' Park as the best of the group so far, I think
Tsao could be better. Only Bobby Bradley was better this season in
his
league, but I think you will see Tsao brought along slowly.
Probably by late 2003 is when you could look for Tsao to make it the
major's.