CPBL's Fubon Guardians sign American pitcher Matthew Kent

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) The Fubon Guardians in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) have signed American minor league southpaw pitcher Matthew Kent to play for them in the 2023 season, the club announced on Friday.

Kent, who will be playing professionally overseas in Asia for the first time, is one of the club's four international players and is expected to report for spring training in early February, the Guardians said in a statement.

The 30-year-old left-hander was a 13th round pick by the Boston Red Sox in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Texas A&M University and then spent every season before 2022 playing in the organization's minor league teams.

Kent acted primarily as a starter before transitioning to more of a reliever in 2021, in what was his third consecutive season splitting time between Triple-A and Double-A.

In 2022, Kent was signed by the Miami Marlins in a minor league deal and spent the season with the team's Triple-A affiliate Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, where he started 25 games out of 28, pitching 144.1 innings to post a 9-11 record and 4.99 ERA.

In his seven seasons in the minor league, Kent pocketed a 57-48 card and a 4.11 ERA.

Also on Friday, the Guardians announced they have re-signed former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Tanner Anderson to play in the upcoming season.

The 29-year-old right-hander arrived in Taiwan mid-season last year in July to join the Guardians. In his CPBL debut last season, he started six games in the league's majors to record a 1-1 card, 1.72 ERA, and 1.18 WHIP over 31.1 innings.

Anderson made his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates in July 2018 going 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA in six appearances before he was sent to the Oakland Athletics in 2019.

As of Friday, the Guardians currently have Venezuelan Enderson Franco, and Americans Tyler Eppler, Kent and Anderson as their international foreign pitchers.

The New Taipei-based Guardians finished last in the five-team league last season with a 46-4-70 record.