Cleveland Guardians outfielder Fairchild 'excited' to represent Taiwan at WBC

Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) Stuart Fairchild, an outfielder with the Cleveland Guardians organization, said he was "excited and honored" to play for Taiwan in the upcoming World Baseball Classic (WBC) in a video released by the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) Sunday.

Fairchild was joined on the 30-man WBC roster released by the CPBL Friday by fellow Taiwanese-American Jonathon Long, who plays in the Chicago Cubs' minor league system.

Although Fairchild is currently with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, he has made appearances in the majors for the Guardians as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and Atlanta Braves.

In the video, Fairchild said he was "excited and honored to be playing for Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic."

"Thank you all so much for your support. I can't wait to see you all at the ballpark in Tokyo."

Speaking with CNA on Sunday, CPBL Commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said he was grateful that Fairchild had agreed to play in the WBC, adding that the league is still working out the schedule to get overseas-based players back to Taiwan for training.

Other MLB-affiliated players on Taiwan's roster include Lin Yu-min (林昱珉) of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Lin Wei-en (林維恩) of the Athletics, both of whom have been invited to their teams' spring training camps.

Lin Yu-min's inclusion was spotlighted by South Korean sports outlet OSEN, which labeled the pitcher the "Korea Killer" in an article on Friday for his performances at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Premier12.

In separate coverage, OSEN said Taiwan has shifted from an underdog to a "tough rival" for Korea, with national team pitcher Ko Young-pyo saying he hopes to face Taiwan again.

Taiwan's roster also includes two high-velocity arms from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball -- Gu Lin Ruei-yang (古林睿煬) and Hsu Jo-hsi (徐若熙) -- the CPBL's top domestic pitchers in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

2024 WBSC Premier12 MVP Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) will captain the team, which features 16 pitchers, three catchers and 11 position players.