Chin-lung Hu
From BR Bullpen
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 150-190 lb.
- School Chinese Cultural University
- High School Nan Ying Vocational High School
- Debut September 1, 2007
- Born February 2, 1984 in Tainan City Taiwan
[edit] Biographical Information
Taiwanese shortstop Chin-lung Hu made his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007.
Hu hit .474/.500/1.026 in the 2002 World Junior Championship, scoring 11 and driving in 12 while jacking out four homers in 8 games for the Silver Medalists. He was second to Delmon Young in hits (18), 7th in average, tied for 4th in home runs and tied for 5th in RBI, but Shawn Bowman was chosen as the All-Tournament shortstop instead.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Hu; he was the third Taiwanese player they had signed, following Chin-Feng Chen and Hong-Chih Kuo. Hu debuted professionally with the 2003 Ogden Raptors, hitting .305/.343/.432. He led Pioneer League shortstops with 165 assists and was rated the #12 prospect in the league by Baseball America, between Abel Moreno and Howie Kendrick. Hu performed very badly for Taiwan in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, going 0 for 10 with two strikeouts and an error.
In 2004, Hu split the year between the Columbus Catfish (.298/.342/.422, 17 SB in 24 tries) and the Vero Beach Dodgers (.307/.350/.387 in 20 games). Baseball America rated him as the best defensive shortstop in the South Atlantic League. Hu made the SAL All-Star team at shortstop. Baseball America also ranked him as the #19 prospect in the SAL, between Matt Albers and Brandon Moss.
Hu spent 2005 with Vero Beach and produced at a .313/.347/.430 clip with 23 stolen bases in 29 tries and 80 runs. He tied Adam Lind for second in the Florida State League in average, trailing only Tony Abreu. Hu made the All-Star team; Baseball America lists him as the third baseman but this is likely a typo as Andy LaRoche, a third baseman, is listed at shortstop. Baseball America also rated him the #12 prospect int he league, between Abreu and Lind.
Hu was one of the top Taiwanese players in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, hitting .417/.417/.583 with two steals in three games. He also played in the 2006 Futures Game as the shortstop for the World team, hitting 8th and going 1 for 3 with a RBI double in a 4-0 win. He batted .254/.326/.334 for the Jacksonville Suns, facing his first struggles as a pro. He did field a Southern League-best .981 at shortstop and made the league All-Star team there. Baseball America listed him as the top defensive shortstop in the circuit but did not include him on their top-20 prospect list. That fall, Hu hit .193/~.246/.228 for the Mesa Solar Sox.
In the 2007 Futures Game, Hu started for the World team and hit second. He doubled in Michael Saunders in the first inning, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joey Votto. He then singled in Saunders again in the third. The effort earned him the Larry Doby Award as the game MVP. The next year, another Taiwan native, Che-Hsuan Lin, would repeat the feat.
Hu batted .329/.380/.508 in 82 games with the Jacksonville Suns in 2007, the best average in the SL that year, before hitting .318/.337/.505 in 45 games for the Las Vegas 51s. Overall, he had 40 doubles, 60 extra-base hits, 89 runs and a .325/.364/.507 batting line. Hu got a September call-up to The Show. He debuted as a defensive substitute for Rafael Furcal in the 7th inning and grounded out against Cla Meredith with a chopper to Khalil Greene. Hu hit .241/.241/.517 in 12 games for the 2007 Dodgers.
Hu did not play for Taiwan in the 2007 Baseball World Cup but joined them for the 2007 Asian Championship and hit .250/.250/.250 in two games, making one error at shortstop for the third-place team.
Hu battled vision problems in the 2008 season.
Sources: MILB.com, 2003-2007 Baseball Almanacs, IBAF site, Worldbaseballclassic.com site
