The CPBL season will finally start tonight on 12th April after two delays due to the Coronavirus and a washout in Taoyuan on the 11th…

The 2019 season was not kind to Uni Lions who won just 48 games in part due to a terrible injury crisis that consumed the whole season. With injuries having cleared, what can this relatively young team do? Can they go back to 2018 form and return to the play-offs or will it be another year of misery in Tainan?

There are changes off the field in Tainan too with a new manager and changes in coaching. Former Lions pitcher Lin Yueh-Ping has been promoted from farm team pitching coach to manager whilst Jamie Navarro has been appointed first team pitching coach. Last season’s manager Liu Yu-Chen returns to his former job as first team hitting coach.

In 2019 the Lions struggled with the bat due to a mix of injuries and poor form. A total of 34 players made plate appearances last year and only two Lions players who played more than 60 games hit over 0.300 and they were veterans Pan Wu-Hsiung and Chen Yung-Chi. There is hope though, Chen Chieh-Hsien and Wu Chieh-Rui both only played around 20 games and when healthy have career averages over 0.350. Su Chih Chieh hit  0.282 last season and as the anchor of the offense last season. Other questions remain, can Kuo Fu-Lin get back to how he played in 2018 after a below par 2019? Will Cheng Wei-Sheng have a break out year? And most importantly can the Lions show some consistency with the bat instead of flashes of promise?

Talking of consistency, Josh Roenicke is the only one of the three Uni Lions foreign pitchers to return from 2019. He pitched solidly in 2019 despite going 5-6 over 19 games but a lot of this was down to a lack of offensive support. He will be joined by Donn Roach and Ryan Feierabend.

Uni Lions local pitchers will have a large say in what the team does in 2020. Two stars from the 2018 Taiwan Series run Shih Tzu Chien and Jiang Chen-Yen regressed in 2019 mustering 9 wins over 37 starts between them compared to 19 over the same period in 2018. The Lions cannot keep relying on the ageing Pan Wei Lun and developing local starters is key. The bullpen will need to improve in 2020. Only Chen Yun-Wen and Liu Hsuan-Ta pitched with an ERA under 5 last season with some of the stats quite unpleasant to look at.

The 2020 Lions should reach at least 55 wins but consistency on both hitting and pitching is important. There is a lot of talent, particularly young talent and if certain players get back to form there is no reason why this team won’t be making a push for the play offs again.