Jen Ho Tseng

Career

Tseng represented Taiwan at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He debuted for the national team when he was just 18 years old. His sister also pitched for Taiwan's women national team.

Tseng was 0–1 with a 1.80 ERA in the 2011 Asian Junior Championship. In the 2012 World Junior Baseball Championship, he was superb at 3–0, 0.84 with a save. In 21 1/3 innings, he fanned 22 and allowed only 12 hits and 2 walks. He beat Canada, South Korea and Colombia. He was second in the event in strikeouts (four behind Shintaro Fujinami), led in wins and tied Jae-min Shim for the most appearances (6). He was named the tourney's All-Star relief pitcher.

Jen-Ho then was the only high schooler picked for Taiwan's squad in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, 3 1/2 years younger than Yao-Lin Wang, the next-youngest). He made his lone appearance in their 9–0 win over New Zealand in the finale. Relieving Kai-Wen Cheng with a 7–0 lead in the 7th, he retired Moko Moanaroa then walked Beau Bishop. Tseng recovered to fan two players with minor league experience in the US, Alan Schoenberger and Tim Auty, to end the inning. He was replaced by Yen-Feng Lin in the 8th. He remained with Taiwan for the 2012 Asian Baseball Championship, going 1–0 and tossing six shutout innings; he beat rival South Korea to help ensure Taiwan getting a Silver Medal and Korea the Bronze.

Tseng is a 6 ft 1 in, 210 lb right-handed pitcher. He throws a fastball around 90 mph (tops out at 95), knuckle-curve, sinker, changeup, and a cutter.

Tseng was signed by the Chicago Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on July 25, 2013. Tseng spent 2014 with the Kane County Cougars where he posted a 6–1 record with a 2.40 ERA. In 2015, Tseng pitched for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans where he posted a 3.55 ERA, and in 2016, he pitched for the Tennessee Smokies, where he posted a 4.26 ERA.

In 2017, he started the season with the Tennessee Smokies and was elevated to the AAA Iowa Cubs where his combined record was 13–4 with a 2.54 ERA. On September 13, 2017, he was named the Cubs minor league pitcher of the year. He was called to the majors to make his Major League debut with the Cubs on September 14, 2017 against the New York Mets. Tseng's first career strikeout was against Travis d'Arnaud of the New York Mets on September 14, 2017.. Tseng had a rough start, however, dropping a relay throw from Anthony Rizzo to field a ground ball. Tseng allowed 5 runs, including back-to-back homers from d'Arnaud and Dominic Smith. However, the Cubs stormed back to win 14-6.