Wednesday, August 19

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PITTSBURGH – Hao-Yu Lee was a budding high school player in Taiwan and a potential international prospect for MLB teams when he was invited to a Nike camp there. One of the featured speakers was Taiwanese Major Leaguer Yu Chang, who had just broken in with Cleveland.

“I was telling him, ‘Five years from now, I will come see you,’” Lee said.

Fast forward five years, and Lee is in the big leagues. Chang returned to Taiwan a couple years ago and is a star in the CPBL; he played a key role for Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year. But even on the other side of the globe, Lee still finds himself competing with him.

With a 3-for-3, two-walk game in the Tigers’ 8-5 win over the Pirates at PNC Park on Monday, Lee reached 57 hits for the season, eclipsing Chang’s single-season record for a Taiwanese-born MLB player. Chang had 54 hits for Cleveland in 2021, when he played in 89 games at the infield corners.

The record was big news in Taiwan, so Lee was quickly made aware of it.

“The internet always points it out,” Lee said.

That said, it wasn’t a major goal for Lee, who made his MLB debut with the Tigers in April and has found a secure role in the infield this summer as a second and third baseman and platoon bat against left-handed pitching.

“I'm just trying to compete,” he said. “My goal is not to be the best Taiwanese player. I'm trying to be a great player in America.”

At his pace, Lee could have several more records soon enough. He’s one of 11 Taiwanese-born players to record a hit in MLB, but is already second on the all-time hit list, nearly halfway to Chang’s career mark of 121. That will take some time, but Lee is on track to threaten more of Chang’s single-season records for a Taiwanese player, including home runs (9), RBIs (39) and runs (32).

Lee entered Wednesday batting .274 with 11 doubles, six homers and 30 RBIs. Much of that production has come over the past month and a half; he’s batting .306 since June 29 with six doubles, three homers, 19 RBIs and an .826 OPS, while cutting down on his strikeout rate.

Monday showed a maturing approach from Lee, who made an impression the last couple Spring Trainings with a big swing and big exit velocities. His three singles were all ground balls, including an opposite-field, two-out single plating a run as part of a two-run opening inning. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to drive in a run.

Lee saw 14 pitches Monday from four different Pirates pitchers, including former Tigers closer Gregory Soto. He had one swing-and-miss all game.

Taiwan has been known traditionally as more of a pitching pipeline, including former Tigers reliever Fu-Te Ni. Lee’s breakout is a reminder that the bats might be coming around.

“Of course, being able to extend the [hits] record, the more, the better,” Lee said. “But this is part of baseball.”

As for toppling Chang’s mark after meeting him years ago, Lee joked, “My bad.”

Kevin McGonigle turned 22 on Tuesday while holding an .809 OPS in his rookie season, the second-highest OPS ever among Tigers players with at least 500 plate appearances before turning 22. Who holds the record?

A. Ty Cobb

B. Al Kaline

C. Harvey Kuenn

D. Lou Whitaker

Javier Báez was on the field at PNC Park Tuesday afternoon taking a lot of early batting practice in an effort to get his swing in order. But after several rounds batting right-handed, he turned around and hit left-handed for a bit.

Is Báez turning to switch-hitting? Not exactly.

“I’m naturally left-handed,” said Báez, who turns around from time to time as a way to stay balanced at the plate. “I did in high school until 10th grade, but then I swung and missed and I hurt my back.”

Still, Báez has hit left-handed in Major League games. He had one at-bat each in 2019, '20 and '21 when batting against position players, and doubled against former White Sox infielder Yolmer Sánchez on Sept. 25, 2020.

One problem with switch-hitting: Báez said he instinctively ducks the wrong way on inside pitches. So batting left-handed against a hard thrower might be a dangerous idea.

B. Al Kaline

Kaline, who won a batting title at age 20, owned an .854 OPS before his 22nd birthday.

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