Aeros Report: Taiwanese players finding their way By Stephanie Storm Beacon Journal sports writer POSTED: 10:44 p.m. EDT, Jun 16, 2011 This is the first season that the Aeros' Taiwanese players Chen-Chang Lee and Chun-Hsiu Chen don't have a translator at their disposal on a daily basis in the Indians' minor-league system. It's not that they've mastered the English language — not yet, at least. But catcher Chen and reliever Lee do have each other, and that is a huge benefit. ''Both Chen and Lee have done a very good job of adapting to playing and living in the United States,'' said Carter Hawkins, the Indians' assistant director of player development. ''They fit in seamlessly into the clubhouse, and having [translator] Jason Lynn to help ease the transition their first few years was an incredible asset to the players and the organization. Seeing how far both have come, and the fact that both are doing well in Akron without the help of a translator, really speaks to their makeup and desire to become big leaguers.'' It's not a surprise that the Indians have two Taiwanese players in the minors. Asia and the Pacific Rim have been a talent target for the Indians for the past six years. The first Taiwanese player signed by the Tribe was right-handed pitcher Sung-Wei Tseng, who advanced to the Aeros as a reliever in 2008. ''He ended up getting hurt, but I'll tell you what, he had a lot of potential,'' said John Mirabelli, the Indians' vice president of scouting operations. ''Before we signed him, he pitched against the Team USA squad that had Pedro Alvarez and Troy Tulowitzki and he shut them down twice on three days' rest.'' Foreign pitchers can get by with limited ability to communicate, but a catcher has to be on the same page with all of the team's pitchers. ''Knowing Chen, I think it's a barrier that can be overcome,'' Mirabelli said. ''But there really was a risk in taking a [foreign player] who is a catcher. ''Spanish is one thing, but Mandarin is a whole different thing for a catcher-pitcher relationship. As we go forward in Asia at that position, I think we're going to have to look at that very much under the microscope, because it's the toughest position to translate.'' Still developing behind the plate, the 5-foot-11, 212-pound Chen has proved he has the offensive potential the Indians envisioned when they signed him in 2007. In 58 games, he's batting .274 with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 35 RBI. Lee, a right-hander out of Hushi Township in Taiwan, signed the following year. In just his third professional season, he's 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 21 appearances with 50 strikeouts and 10 walks. ''Typically, Asian players don't profile well on the corners,'' Lynn said. ''They're usually a lot of guys who play the infield or are center fielders with some speedy range and bat-to-ball swings. A guy with power is definitely difficult to find in Asia.'' That's because a power swing is not necessarily taught to young Asian players. ''Over there they teach out of the box, use your speed, just put the bat on the ball,'' Mirabelli said. ''They play on a lot of artificial turf, so they tend to be fast. Their game is taught to take advantage of their speed.'' Lynn said that even pitchers are taught to throw differently than in the U.S. ''A lot of guys here, their fastballs have velocity,'' Lynn said. ''In Asia, you see a lot of guys in the mid- to upper-80s, so they pitch to get batters out using a lot of breaking balls. That's why a lot of people say in Asia they pitch backward in that they show fastball and throw a lot of breaking pitches. It's just a cultural thing.'' The Indians have done their homework. Now it's up to the players to make a name for themselves. ''Taiwan is right now where Australia was about 30 years ago,'' Mirabelli said. ''People thought that Australia was going to be an emerging market and producer of major-league talent, and it really hasn't. People are going to go and spend their scouting dollars where there's the best results. Because of the small size of the country, there isn't going to be big numbers in terms of success. But I don't think it has to be. There just has to be a few guys who make it and keep that door open.'' http://www.ohio.com/sports/124046664.html --

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