Former Yankees starter named bullpen coach for Chinese Taipei at World Baseball Classic

Former New York Yankees starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was named Team Chinese Taipei's bullpen coach for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. 

Wang was a member of the Yankees' rotation from 2005-09 and was the first Taiwanese player in franchise history. In 2006, he led MLB with 19 wins despite averaging just 3.1 strikeouts per nine innings. 

During an interleague game against the Houston Astros in 2008, Wang suffered a severe right foot injury while running the bases. The injury kept him off the field for the rest of the year, and he made just 12 appearances the following year due to shoulder surgery. 

Wang's pitching staff at the 2026 WBC 

Hsu Jo-Hsi and Gu Lin Ruei-Yang will be Taiwan's top starting pitchers at the WBC. 

Hsu's dominant season (2.05 ERA, 0.807 WHIP) with the CPBL's Wei Chuan Dragons led to a contract with Nippon Professional Baseball's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks despite interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Gu Lin threw a complete game shutout on 98 pitches last summer with NPB's Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He spent the first six seasons of his career as a star with the CPBL's Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. 

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