Indians Top 50: #34 Chen-Chang Lee

Chen-Chang Lee - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 10/21/1986 - Height: 5'11" - Weight: 175 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2009	22	Kinston	A+	4	6	3.35	45	2	83.1	67	31	5	28	97	.220	3.0	10.5	1.14
		Totals		4	6	3.35	45	2	83.1	67	31	5	28	97	.220	3.0	10.5	1.14

History: Lee was signed by the Indians as an international free agent in September of 2008 for a reported $400,000. He attended Taipei Physical Education College and pitched for the Taiwanese National team in the 2006 and 2008 World University Baseball Championships. He also pitched in the Asian Games and Intercontinental Cup for Taiwan in 2006, and in the summer of 2007 he pitched in the United States for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaskan Baseball League.  He was one of the top amateur college prospects from Taiwan, and was just one of three amateurs on the Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) team that competed in Beijing, China during the 2008 Olympics. The Indians had been scouting him since he was 16-years old and had he been in the 2008 Draft they felt he had the value and projection to be a fourth or fifth round pick.

Strengths & Opportunities: Lee throws from a sidearm slot and features a four pitch mix of a fastball, sinker, slider and split changeup. He has an advanced pitching approach and gets good movement on all his pitches and has shown a good ability to command the strike zone with all of them.  His fastball consistently sits at 91-92 MPH and has topped out as high as 95 MPH and has good sinking action down in the zone.  His slider is his best secondary offering and is very tough on right-handers showing good tilt and late bite.  His split-changeup has shown progress and is a good groundball pitch for him.  He also started mixing the pitch in a little more to both left and right-handed hitters last year and found some success with it.

Lee is a very experienced pitcher who has achieved success at every stop imaginable on the international circuit and in his first year of pro ball stateside.  It was an adjustment for him last year coming stateside and playing professionally in the United States for the first time, but he adapted well and exceeded all expectations in his first pro season.  The Indians rewarded him for his efforts last year buy having him take part of Double-A Akron's playoff run. While he did not dress for games or was ever active on the playoff roster, he was in Akron participating in pre-game workouts and hung around the clubhouse and with the team for the playoffs.

This biggest thing the Indians worked on with Lee last year was solidifying his arm slot. If he can be more consistent with a new low three-quarter arm slot, the Indians feel he could develop into a very good relief prospect.  By getting him to change from his side-arm slot to the low three quarter slot, they feel it will help him stay on top of the baseball better.  He has such a power arm that when he flies open his elbow will drop and he gets underneath the ball and everything kind of works uphill and he does not create much angle.  He is not a real tall guy, so if he loses that arm slot and gets low it gets even lower. His breaking ball is also going to benefit from having a better arm slot.  There has been some resilience from him in learning to adapt to the new slot, but in the long run they believe the change will be for the better.  In addition to the arm slot, the Indians also want him to work on getting stronger to handle the much longer season in the United States and to also continue to work on his offspeed pitches and the command of his fastball.  He lacks size, so durability issues could come into play down the road.

Outlook:  Lee had over three times as many strikeouts than walks and averaged more than a strikeout an inning last year at High-A Kinston.  He is ready to move up another level this coming season and could move fast this year depending on his development and the Indians' need.  He is one of the Indians best relief pitching prospects in the system, and he should open the 2010 season in the Double-A Akron bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

Chen-Chang Lee MinorLeagueBaseball.com

Chen-Chang Lee Baseball-Reference page

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