Ching-Lung Lo
From BR Bullpen
Ching-Lung Lo (Dragon)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 6", Weight 205 lb.
- High School Kao Yuan Senior High School of Technology and Commerce
- Born August 20, 1985 in Tainan City Taiwan
[edit] Biographical Information
Ching-Lung Lo is a minor league pitcher.
Lo was signed out of high school by scout Kent Blasingame for the Colorado Rockies for $1.4 million. He debuted as a pro in 2002 with the Casper Rockies, going 5-5 with a 4.95 ERA and .290 opponent average as the young man on the staff. Baseball America rated him as the #13 prospect in the Pioneer League, between Jonathan Broxton and Ubaldo Jimenez among pitchers. They also ranked him as the #14 Colorado prospect entering 2003.
In 2003, the teenager had a 3-7, 2.85 record for the Tri-City Dust Devils. He tied for the Northwest League in losses but a lot of that came from poor run support as his club only scored 9 runs in his 7 defeats. He was 10th in the Northwest League in ERA. Baseball America ranked him as the 10th-best Northwest League prospect, between Billy Petrick and Aaron Marsden.
Lo had a 4-3, 5.05 record for the 2004 Asheville Tourists. In 2005, the Tainan native returned to Asheville, where he was 7-9 with a 5.65 ERA and surrendered 23 gopher balls, most in the South Atlantic League.
Ching-Lung improved his record to 10-5 in 2006 with the Modesto Nuts but his ERA remained elevated at 5.39. He spent 2006 in the Hawaii Winter League, going 4-3 with a 4.97 ERA for the Waikiki BeachBoys. He led the staff in wins but his ERA was 4th-highest among the five starters. It was an international rotation, featuring Dutch hurler Rick Vanden Hurk, Japan's Atsushi Nohmi, Mexican Marco Estrada, Taiwan's Lo and an American in the 5th slot.
Lo moved up to AA in 2007 and had a 8-8, 5.61 record for the Tulsa Drillers. He allowed a .300 average. Perhaps even more disconcerting, his fastball, once timed at 95 mph, was down to the 88-90 range. He was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. He was just the 4th Taiwan native to play in the AFL, following Chin-Feng Chen, Chin-lung Hu and Yung-Chi Chen.
In 2008, the tall right-hander was again 8-8 for Tulsa, this time with a 5.25 ERA. One positive was his first career shutout. He was also still just 22 years old. Lo was on Taiwan's preliminary roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
[edit] Sources
- 2003-2008 Baseball Almanacs
- Taiwan Baseball Blog
- Wiki Baseball (Chinese)
- 2008 Rockies Media Guide
