Jen-Ho Tseng will start for the #Cubs Thursday #MLB debut @BleacherNation

I saw him at Kane County and really liked him. Simple easy clean delivery and 4 pitches for strikes. Dude can really pitch.

Sounds like a Hendricks type. Can't wait to see him!

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/09/ ... hnson.html

Cubs Designate Pierce Johnson For Assignment

By Steve Adams | September 13, 2017 at 7:16pm CDT

The Cubs announced on Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Pierce Johnson for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for fellow righty Jen-Ho Tseng, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Iowa.

Now 26 years of age, Johnson once ranked as one of the Cubs’ very best pitching prospects and was considered the game’s No. 87 overall prospect by Baseball America in the 2013-14 offseason. The former No. 43 overall pick turned in a very strong 2.74 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 across two A-ball levels in 2013 in order to earn that distinction, but his star has faded since that time.

Johnson posted similarly strong ERA marks in both 2014 and 2015, but he struggled with control in ’14 and saw his strikeout rate drop drastically in ’15. The Cubs shifted him to the bullpen for much of the 2016 season in Triple-A Iowa, but Johnson responded with a 6.14 ERA and 6.1 BB/9 through 63 innings that year (albeit with a gaudy 10.7 K/9 rate).

The 2017 season was better, as Johnson pitched almost exclusively in a relief role and posted improvements in ERA (4.34 ERA), strikeout rate (12.3 K/9) and walk rate (4.5 BB/9). He has an option remaining beyond the 2017 season, so he could very well draw interest from other clubs in need of pitching depth that can afford to exercise more patience with the once touted right-hander than the Cubs can afford to at this juncture.

The 22-year-old Tseng, meanwhile, currently ranks as the Cubs’ 13th-best prospect in the estimation of Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com. Chicago signed the Taiwanese righty to a $1.625MM bonus as an 18-year-old amateur back in 2013, and he’s enjoyed success at each stop as he’s risen through their minor league ranks. Tseng split the 2017 campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, logging a combined 2.54 ERA (including a 1.80 ERA in 55 Triple-A innings). He’s averaged a combined 7.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 this season, and his ground-ball rate spiked from 39.4 percent in 90 1/3 Double-A frames to 53.1 percent in his 55 frames in Iowa.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2017/09/1 ... o-bullpen/

Jen-Ho Tseng is Coming Up to Start for Cubs Tomorrow, Mike Montgomery Back to Bullpen

September 13, 2017, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs News

Wow, this is a relatively implication-laden move, and I’m pretty excited about it.


Per multiple reports, one of the Cubs’ top upper level pitching prospects, Jen-Ho Tseng, who was today also named the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year (his second time winning the award (2014)), is coming up to start for the big league team tomorrow.

Tseng, 22, broke back out this year in a big way between AA and AAA, and was going to have to be put on the 40-man roster in any case this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. So, as Luke and I have noted for a little while now, *if* a Cubs pitching prospect was going to get a start, it was going to be Tseng.

But I have to confess, I’m still a bit surprised this is happening right now as the Cubs battle for a division title.

As near as I can figure, here’s the rationale: the move will push Mike Montgomery back into the bullpen, where he has been very effective and is probably even more needed at this point. In fact, he may wind up relieving Tseng early-ish in the game tomorrow to create a nice piggyback situation and a tough matchup for the Mets. If not, then Montgomery is available through the weekend for the big series against the Cardinals.

I think I like this. I think. But I have to think a little more.

Meanwhile, Tseng taking a start now could line the Cubs up to replace him in the rotation next time through with a returned Jake Arrieta. To be clear, I’m just spitballing on the timing, but it would line up with the hoped return timeline for Arrieta, whose been out a little over a week with a mild hamstring strain.

To make room for Tseng on the 40-man roster, Pierce Johnson was designated for assignment. More on that decision later.

So exciting for some reason.

If he can step into the rotation next year and be a solid 4, that's huge for their payroll flexibility. And he looks to be the kind of guy who may eventually be a solid 3.

I seen reports his nickname is 'Wild Tseng' like the old Troggs song.

Get a room you two and take Linnsanity with you.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

LOL. What can I say? I'm optimistic with good vibes on this kid. I like guys who can control multiple pitches and not just wing it and wish, hope and pray like Pierce Johnson who they DFA'd.

Im glad this puts monty back in the bullpen.

what happened to dylan maples? he even pitch while he was up?

Is this the first Chinese we had on the cubs? I remember we had a Korean maybe 15 years back.

I must say I love it when you two old, boring Boomers find enough energy to type back and forth on a public message board.

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Coinciding with the big hit release:IT.

Now the Cubs can Tseng in the clowns.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

z

I'm a Gen X my friend.

I just seen this you dirty hillbilly.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

HawaiiEwe

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Maples has struggled. Hopefully next year they can count on him but not this year unfortunately.

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2017/9/ ... t-thursday

Tseng will be the 14th Taiwanese-born player to play in the major leagues and the first for the Cubs. The Cubs signed Tseng as an international free agent in 2013 after he pitched in the World Baseball Classic for Chinese Taipei. He was previously named the Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2014 and he is the only person to have won that award twice.

Oh he's from Taiwan. Ok. I thought he was American. My excitement now is all gone.

LOL. I have good vibes about the kid.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

It's a good move. The Mets pitching is such horseshit that asking Tseng to go twice through the lineup is probably safe. If the offense can quickly get 5 on the board then Montgomery is saved for all three Cardinals games. If not, Montgomery pitches 2 innings and is still saves for Sunday.

And what are the odds that the Mets have a decent scouting report on Tseng? Plus you can showcase him for an off-season trade.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Nice slider asshole

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

they gave him jason hamels #.

Tough debut but shows good stuff. Clearly nervous but has a future.

Jen ho needs some Moro vent. Gotta say his name brings back memories of my Dad taking us to the old Gen Ho resteraunt in.. Geneva I think?

And yet they're only down 1. It's not like this kid for the Mets is a world-beater either.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Fuck me I am so sick of Heyward.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I was going to make that reference earlier this week but figured nobody would get it.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George