BASEBALL / Pedro Fernandez wins 2025 CPBL MVP

Taipei/Kaohsiung, Nov. 6 (CNA) Pedro Fernandez, ace pitcher with the Rakuten Monkeys, won the 2025 Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) regular season MVP at an award ceremony Wednesday, becoming the first international player to do so.

Fernandez, who is from the Dominican Republic, earned 208 points out of a possible 230 in regular-season MVP voting, winning both the Taiwan Series and regular-season MVP awards this year.

In the league's 36-year history, it was the first time that an international player had taken the two awards in one year, and the fourth time that any player had done so.

"I want to thank each of my coaches and teammates. They are part of this special honor. This achievement is not mine alone but the fruition of our entire team," the right-hander said in a recorded speech, adding that he would never forget the moment.

Fernandez, who joined the Monkeys in 2023, had his second full CPBL season this year, leading the league with 168 strikeouts and 15 wins over 170 innings in 26 starts, while ranking fourth with a 2.01 ERA.

Also on Wednesday, Fubon Guardians reliever Li Wu Yung-qin (李吳永勤) was named the Most Improved Player, while TSG Hawks closer Lin Shi-xiang (林詩翔) won the Rookie of the Year award.

Li, tossed 42 1/3 innings in 56 appearances this season for the Guardians, posting a 2.76 ERA. In his previous stint with the CTBC Brothers between 2020 and 2024, he had pitched only 24 innings in 21 games and allowed 13 earned runs.

He thanked his wife on Wednesday for supporting him through "a decade of ups and downs," during which he mostly played in the minors.

The Rookie of the Year winner Lin, 24, played in 60 games out of the bullpen, throwing 60 1/3 innings and recording a league-high 30 saves, with a 1.79 ERA.

Meanwhile, CPBL Commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a ball-strike challenge system in 2027.

At the awards ceremony, Tsai also said the league will trial TrackMan -- a Doppler radar technology system that tracks the 3D movement and characteristics of a baseball -- in the 2026 season, with the aim of officially implementing the automatic ball-strike challenge system in 2027.

Other initiatives will include recruiting Japanese umpires to improve the quality of the games and launching a new CPBL app, he said.