BASEBALL/Lin An-ko excited to face Taiwanese stars as Saitama Seibu Lions player

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Star slugger Lin An-ko (林安可), who has officially joined the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), said he looks forward to facing Taiwanese players.

"Gu Lin Ruei-yang (古林睿煬), Hsu Jo-hsi (徐若熙) and Sung Chia-hao (宋家豪), I look forward to playing against them all" in Japan, the four-time Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) all-star said at a press event in Taipei Friday.

"To me, Uni-Lions is more than a team, but a family and an important place where I began (my career)," Lin said of his former club, Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, while also thanking Seibu Lions for recognizing his game.

Despite joining the Japanese franchise as a batter, Uni-Lions manager Lin Yueh-ping (林岳平) called him a "handful" who wanted to both pitch and bat when he was first registered as a pitcher for the 2019 CPBL mid-season draft.

"I knew he had consulted with overseas franchises and wanted to develop as a two-way player," Lin Yueh-ping said at the event. "However, our assessment at the time was that if his goal was to play abroad, it would take significantly longer to reach that level as a pitcher than as a hitter."

Saying Lin An-ko was "capable of crushing home runs even without batting practice," Lin Yueh-ping expressed satisfaction that the player eventually embraced the team's vision after the 2020 season, when Lin claimed the CPBL home run title in his debut season.

During Friday's event, Lin An-ko donned his new No. 73 jersey, assisted by Seibu Lions President and CEO Tsuyoshi Okumura and senior advisor Tetsuya Shiozaki.

Shiozaki said that the organization is committed to helping Lin acclimate to Japan as quickly as possible, expressing full confidence in his ability to secure a spot on the top-team roster.

However, Shiozaki noted it is still too early to determine if the team will release Lin to represent Taiwan's national team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic this March.

He declined to reveal specific contract figures, but confirmed the commitment is long-term.

"What I can say is that we expect Lin to play in Japan for many years," Shiozaki said. "Consequently, the contract is a multi-year deal rather than just one or two years."