TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Lyle Lin (林家正), a Taiwanese baseball catcher, announced on Tuesday (Feb. 11) that he received an invitation to participate in the Major League Baseball's (MLB) spring training, prompting him to withdraw from the World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifiers with the Taiwan team.
Lin signed with MLB's Oakland Athletics (A'). He explained that A' required full attendance at spring training, marking his first invitation since joining the U.S. professional baseball league in 2019.
He expressed gratitude to Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), the commissioner of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL, 中華職棒會), for his support. Lin also apologized to the national team and head coach Tseng Hao-chu (曾豪駒) for stepping back from the national team training due to his contractual obligations.
On his social media, Lin thanked fans across Taiwan for their support and vowed to continue working hard to meet their expectations. The WBC qualifiers will commence next Friday, with Taiwan placed in Group A. The team will face Spain next Friday at 7 p.m., South Africa next Saturday at 7 p.m., and Nicaragua next Sunday at 7 p.m.
