Tag: cj liu

Red Sox pitching prospect Chih-Jung Liu led Double-A Portland in strikeouts (145) last season

Red Sox pitching prospect Chih-Jung “CJ” Liu put up some of the best strikeout numbers in the entire organization last season.

Liu, 24, spent all of 2023 with Double-A Portland after closing out the 2022 campaign there. In 26 appearances (24 starts) for the Sea Dogs, the right-hander posted a 5.35 FIP and 4.71 FIP with a team-leading 145 strikeouts to 61 walks over a team-leading 114 1/3 innings of work.

After an up-and-down April, Liu made headlines by tossing a seven-inning no-hitter in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Akron RubberDucks on May 5. He then struggled to some degree as the calendar flipped from May to June and wound up spending more than a week on Portland’s development list as a result.

Upon returning to action on July 7, however, Liu put together his first double-digit strikeout game of the season, punching out 10 in seven strong innings as part of a 6-1 win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at home. He one-upped himself in his next time out — which did not come until July 18 because of the All-Star break — by fanning a career-high of 11 over 5 2/3 innings in a 9-8 victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Hadlock Field.

On the heels of racking up 21 strikeouts to kick off his July, Liu owned a respectable 4.25 ERA (4.23 FIP) through his first 16 starts (78 1/3 innings) for the Sea Dogs. Unfortunately for the righty, things began to unravel from there as he pitched to an unsightly 8.69 ERA (6.76 FIP) over his next eight starts (29 innings) before moving to Portland’s bullpen in early September.

While pitching in relief, which is something he did with High-A Greenville in 2022, Liu was at least able to end his season on a more encouraging note. He made two appearances out of the ‘pen for the Sea Dogs and allowed three earned runs on six hits, three walks, and 12 strikeouts across seven frames in which he held opposing hitters to a .222 batting average against.

All things considered, it was an inconsistent year for Liu, who gave up more walks and home runs (19) than anyone else on Portland’s staff. Still, among 14 qualified pitchers in the Eastern League, Liu ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.41), third in strikeout rate (28.4 percent), fifth in groundball rate (41.4 percent), first in swinging-strike rate (16.8 percent), and seventh in xFIP (3.90), per FanGraphs. He also led the pack in batting average on balls in play (3.54), which suggests that he may have been the victim of bad luck and/or poor defense behind him.

In addition to what he did for the Sea Dogs, Liu also pitched for Team Chinese Taipei at the 2022 Asian Games (postponed a year because of COVID-19) back in October. Playing alongside former Red Sox utility man Tzu-Wei Lin, Liu made two scoreless appearances spanning five innings of relief en route to helping Chinese Taipei take home a silver medal.

Altogether, the 2023 season marked Liu’s third in pro ball after he originally with the Red Sox for $750,000 as an international free agent coming out of Taiwan in October 2019. Though a two-way player as an amateur, the Tainan City native has stuck to pitching since making his professional debut in July 2021.

Fast forward nearly three years later, and Liu now stands at 6-feet and 185 pounds. Throwing from a three-quarters arm slot, he — as noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report — operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 93-95 mph fastball that tops out at 98 mph, an 80-82 mph changeup that shows late, downward movement, an 83-86 mph slider that features 10-to-4 break, and a get-me-over 78-80 mph curveball.

Liu, who turns 25 in April, was eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter after being left off Boston’s 40-man roster. It was even reported that the Red Sox entertained trading Liu before the November deadline, but that obviously never came to fruition and he is still with the organization.

That being said, the same rules will apply to Liu this year. He is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 54 prospect in Boston’s farm system and is projected to return to Portland for the start of the 2024 minor-league season, but will likely do so as a reliever as opposed to a starter. If his stuff sticks up and he refines his approach of the bullpen, Liu could be on the fast track to Triple-A Worcester before long.

(Picture of Chih-Jung Liu: Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect C.J. Liu throws seven-inning no-hitter for Double-A Portland

Red Sox pitching prospect Chih-Jung “C.J.” Liu threw a seven-inning no-hitter in Game 1 of Double-A Portland’s doubleheader against the Akron RubberDucks on Friday night.

Making his fifth start of the season for Portland on the road at Canal Park, Liu walked just two and struck out six over seven scoreless, no-hit frames. The right-hander took a bid for a perfect game into the bottom of the third before issuing a two-out walk to Connor Kokx. He then retired the next eight batters he faced before giving up another free pass to Kokx with out in the sixth.

Liu once again stranded Kokx at first base by recording back-to-back strikeouts of Julian Escobedo and Angel Martinez. He preserved the no-hit effort by sitting by inducing one groundout and two flyouts in a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

All told, Liu sat down 21 of the 23 RubberDucks hitters he faced on 91 pitches (48 strikes). With Stephen Scott handling catching duties, the 24-year-old hurler induced 12 swings-and-misses and earned the winning decision with the first complete game shutout of his professional career.

Liu becomes the second Sea Dogs pitcher in franchise history to throw a complete game, seven-inning no-hitter. Brayan Bello, who is now with the Red Sox, first accomplished the feat at Hadlock Field exactly one year ago Friday.

Through five starts with the Sea Dogs to begin the 2023 season, Liu has posted a 3.65 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with 29 strikeouts to 11 walks over 24 2/3 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .216 against him.

A native of Taiwan, Liu originally signed with the Red Sox for $750,000 as an international free agent coming out Tainan City in October 2019. He was considered to be a switch-hitting two-way player at that time but has since been converted into a full-time pitcher. Liu did not name his pro debut until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and closed out the 2022 campaign with Portland after earning a late-season promotion from High-A Greenville.

Listed at 6-feet and 185 pounds, Liu throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 93-95 mph fastball that tops out at 98 mph, an 80-82 mph changeup, an 83-86 mph slider, and a 78-80 mph curveball, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

Liu, who just turned 24 in April, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 58 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 24th among pitchers in the organization. He can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career later this year if he is not added to the Sox’ 40-man roster by the deadline to do so in November.

(Picture of C.J. Liu: Kelly Oโ€™Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)