Zeng Pinyang: From rehabilitation to CITIC bullpen highlights in an amazing season

Zeng Pinyang. (File photo, taken by reporter Lin Zhengkun)

[Reporter Gong Naijie/Report from Taipei] The CITIC Brothers won the championship in the second half of the season and entered the playoffs. Zeng Pinyang in the bullpen has not been released since he joined the army at the end of June. This is one of the biggest surprises for the pitching staff this season. He said: "It's amazing. I didn't expect to be able to come so early, and I didn't expect that I could stay here for so long!"

Zeng Pinyang, whom CITIC recruited in the outside market this year, played 22 games in the first team this year, contributed 1 reliever, allowed 22 hits in 22.1 innings, had 16 strikeouts, and had an ERA of only 1.61. Pitching coach Wang Jianmin specifically named Zeng Pinyang and Chen Hu as the highlights of the bullpen. "Ahu is much better than last year and is of great help to the bullpen. Pinyang is a fast pitcher and cannot control the ball very accurately, but he can suppress hitters, so there is no big problem."

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When Zeng Pinyang first joined the army, he wanted to throw out his speed. As he gained more experience, he began to think about attacking positions and thinking about matchup types. On September 20, he also experienced the high-tension situation of a small lead for the first time. In the end, he surrendered a scoreless inning and won the first relay success in his career, contributing to the CITIC Brothers' championship journey.

Zeng Pinyang joined Taiwan Steel in 2022 as the 13th designated player. He only played 3 games with the first team and suffered multiple injuries such as bone spurs, ligament and tendon tears. There was a hunch that he might be released before the end of last year's season. During his rehabilitation period, the Chinese Baseball League was looking for players. He pitched 8 games as a rehabilitation game, soared 14K in 10.2 innings, and had an ERA of 2.53. When he returned to Taichung to train with trainer Lin Hongwei, Zheng Kaiying, a CITIC scout who had been his coach in the youth baseball days, came to usher in this year's amazing season.

Zeng Pinyang said, "During the recovery period from the injury, many people helped me and let me know that I had the opportunity to come back. In addition, I went to the training institution to find coach Hongwei, who gave me a lot of help. He also urged me to help at the pitching training institution in Tainan, and gave me a lot of help in pitching and physical use. Without them, as well as the support of friends and family, I would not be here now."