WBC / Team Taiwan's WBC warm-up game canceled due to rainy weather Monday

Miyazaki, Japan, March 2 (CNA) Team Taiwan's warm-up game against a Japanese professional farm team was canceled Monday morning due to poor weather, as the squad continued its preparations for the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

Team Taiwan was scheduled to face the Orix Buffaloes' farm team at Sokken Stadium in Miyazaki, Kyushu. However, persistent rain forced the cancellation, leading the Taiwan team to pivot to indoor practice instead.

The cancellation of the warm-up game means that Team Taiwan has only one opportunity to fine-tune its play with the full roster, in a matchup Tuesday against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' farm team.

The Taiwan team will play its first 2026 WBC game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome at 11 a.m. Thursday (Taiwan time).

Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), commissioner of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) and national team coordinator, noted earlier that unlike the Japanese and South Korean teams, the Taiwan players did not have official warm-up games scheduled at indoor stadiums. This is because Taiwan secured its WBC berth through the qualifying round rather than as an automatic seed, he said.

Asked about the change in schedule, Team Taiwan manager Tseng Hao-jiu (曾豪駒) expressed concern for his hitters rather than his pitchers, saying that it is generally more difficult for batters to maintain their timing and "game feel" without live at-bat practice.

Regarding the rotation, Tseng confirmed that Zhang Chun-wei (張峻瑋), who was scheduled to start on the mound Monday, will start on Tuesday instead.

After the opener against Australia, the Taiwan team will come up against Samurai Japan on Friday evening, the Czech Republic on Saturday morning, and South Korea on Sunday morning. Only the top two teams from the group will advance to the knockout stage at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida.