The "All Star Futures Game" was played on Sunday night during the festivities in New York, and a Sox prospect walked away with the MVP. Che-Hsuan Lin, who was playing for the World Team against the U.S., hit a two-run 7th inning homer to propel his team to a 3-0 win. Lin is just 19-years old, and is currently ranked as the Sox #8 prospect by soxprospects.com, making him the youngest member of the Top 10. He was signed in 2007 as an international free agent from Taiwan for $390,000. His best assets are his speed, his defense, and his plate discipline. Currently playing for Single-A Greenville, where players are usually 3-5 years older, Lin is currently hitting just .248 but his 39 walks help give him a .348 on-base percentage. He has 27 stolen bases in 33 attempts, not surprising for a player who was the Taiwan national high school champion in the 100-meter dash (as well as the high jump). His speed enables him to get to a lot of balls from his centerfield position where he rates very highly defensively. Was projected to be a 1st Round pick in the 2007 Draft had he been eligible....and though the Sox were not the highest bidder for his services, he wanted to play for Boston. Seems that aside from beating the United States in the Futures Game there are many, many reasons to love this young prospect.
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Comparisons: B.J. Upton & Marquis Grissom. Interesting.
The full scouting report:
Spectacularly athletic centerfielder likely would have been a supplemental first round pick in the 2007 draft had he been eligible. Ichiro-like speed with a cannon arm. Makes good contact - quick, strong wrists. Decent gap power, hits well to all fields. He's struggled with off-speed pitches early on. Exceptional glove and range in CF, and his arm is both very strong and accurate. One teammate commented positively on Lin's range, stating that it looks like Lin is "gliding on roller skates" in the outfield. The Red Sox outbid several teams for Lin's services. Also, at least one team significantly outbid Boston, but Lin preferred to play for the Red Sox organization.
I think it's interesting that a Taiwanese player is finally in the Sox organization. I always wondered why there weren't more who came to the majors considering how much they dominate the Little League World Series every year. There have only been 5 ever, with Chien Mien Wang being the only one to really be a big contributor. Perhaps 10 years from now this will be what the Japanese market is becoming now.
The first i saw of this kid was the other day when he won the MVP of the future stars game and thats all i really saw of him.
I cant find it anywhere do you know if he played in the lttle league world series? If he's 19 that means he would've played in like 01 or 02 since its 11 and 12 yr olds.
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