A’s lefty Wang ‘in right place’
MESA, Ariz. — A potentially fun story of international proportions is brewing in the A’s clubhouse this spring.
Left-handed reliever WeiChung Wang is in camp on a minor-league deal, trying to make his way back to the big leagues after stints with the Brewers in 2014 and 2017. He would be the first Taiwan-born player in A’s history should he make the club, and he’s determined to do so after failing to stick in Milwaukee.
“There’s a different hunger in him now. There’s something to be said for a guy who gets knocked down and has the guts to come back,” said A’s special assistant Steve Sharpe, who saw Wang pitch in Korea last year. “We think he can figure it out. He’s in the right place. This is another land-ofopportunity situation like Nick Martini and Ramon Laureano found last year.”
Wang (pronounced “Wong”)
has spent plenty of time in the U.S., thanks to his four seasons with the Brewers and brief stay with the Pirates in 2013. He does speak some English. “If it’s on-the-field stuff, I’m totally fine,” Wang said last week, with A’s scout Adam Hislop interpreting. “Anything else is kind of challenging.”
Now that Hislop has left to attend to his other duties, however, Wang is the lone Mandarin speaker at Hohokam Stadium. That can make the 26-year-old feel a little isolated.
“It does get lonely sometimes,” Wang said. “It’s nice to have just one other person to talk to. But I should try more to speak English.”
As Sharpe pointed out, Wang really hasn’t pitched anywhere professionally where he speaks the language, so communication difficulties and cultural differences are nothing new for him. And Wang has found Oakland’s pitchers to be very friendly, particularly reliever Jerry Blevins, who once played for Team USA in Taiwan and who makes a point of saying “ni hao,” “hello” in Mandarin, whenever he sees Wang. Wang was touched that several pitchers checked to make sure he was OK after a minor groin strain sidelined him.
When Wang was a Rule 5 player with the Brewers in 2014, he was just the 11th Taiwanese player to make the big leagues, and he had much of the country watching his every move. Taiwan is baseballmad. “It’s the main sport,” Wang said. “It’s the only sport.”
After Tommy John surgery in 2012, Wang essentially went straight to the big leagues, with only minimal time at rookie ball with the Pirates in 2013, 471⁄3 innings total. He was learning on the fly and didn’t fare well (10.90 ERA), but the Brewers were set on keeping him on the big-league roster.
“The more I get to know players like Wang, they’re going through a lot more pressure than I’ve ever experienced,” said Hislop, who was based in Taipei much of his career. “Especially Wang’s trajectory, where he had a totally abnormal introduction. He could just feel the pressure, and the players around probably felt like he hadn’t earned it.
“He couldn’t get sent down. He didn’t perform very well. Then he’s got the entire country of Taiwan paying attention on top of that.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone with that kind of pressure. For him to come back here after that, that’s courageous.”
The A’s are looking at Wang as a potential swing man; he can start, as he did in Korea last year, and he can work in relief. Wang prefers to start, but he’s happy to do whatever the team requires, and Sharpe believes he might be best suited to the bullpen, especially when looking at the 2.05 ERA Wang put up in relief at Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2017.
With good command and a fastball that can register as high as 93 mph, Wang is effective against both left-handers and right-handers. He’ll be groomed to start, at least initially. He also throws a slider and he picked up a cutter while pitching in Korea.
Wang was 7-10 with a 4.26 ERA in Korea last year. He had offers to return, along with a shot to go to Japan, both much more lucrative options than a minor-league deal with Oakland. But the A’s had been the first team ever to express interest in him, way back when he was in high school, and Hislop had attended his games and gotten to know Wang’s family. Wang elected to attend college rather than sign with Oakland, but he didn’t forget which organization was there at the start.
He’s not guaranteed anything, though. Since he signed at the end of January, the A’s have added three lefties: Blevins and Tyler Alexander on minor-league deals and Brett Anderson on a big-league deal.
“There was only one lefthander on the big-league roster when I signed,” Wang said. “They’ve added a few more since then and upped the challenge, but I still have the same opportunity if I pitch well.”
“There is a feel-good story there,” Sharpe said. “I hope it all works out. We made him his first offer and we’re the land of second opportunities. He can do it.”