Chih-Jung "CJ" Liu Portland Sea Dogs Pitcher

       
 
Age: 25
Born: April 7, 1999
Birthplace: Tainan City, Taiwan
Height: 6-0
Weight: 185
Bats: Both
Throws: Right
   
Drafted: Not draft eleigible
How Acquired: International free agent
(Oct. 2019)
College: Culture (Taiwan)
High School: Chong Xue Guo Xiao
   

Photo © Kelly O'Connor
Chih-Jung Liu photos by Kelly O'Connor
Pronunciation: chee yung loo
First Pro Contract: October 22, 2019 (BOS)
Signing Scouts: Louie Lin, Brett Ward, Chris Becerra, & Eddie Romero
Signing Bonus: $750,000
Rule 5 Draft Eligible: December 2025
MLFA Eligible: November 2026
   
Pro Debut: July 1, 2021 (GCL)
Added to 40-man: -
MLB Debut: -
Service Time (1/25): 0 days
Options Remaining: 3 (0 used)
Contract (2025): MiLB contract

 
 
 
 
 
     
  Scouting Report & Links      
         
  Physical Description: Medium build. Has filled out in recent years, appears bigger than his listed weight of 185. No remaining projection.

Mechanics: Throws from a three-quarters arm slot, starting on the first base side of the rubber. Pronounced leg kick with large stride towards home plate. Short arm action and hides the ball behind. Falls off to the first base side post-delivery, sometimes significantly. Effortful but not violent arm mechanics. With runners on base, uses a much shorter leg kick.

Fastball: 94-97 mph, topping out at 98 mph. Has fringy life and is on the straight side. Below-average command at present. Has not shown the ability to consistently miss bats. Potential average offering. Also throws an 87-89 mph cutter that gets more swinging strikes.

Changeup: 85-87 mph. Pitch shows late, downward movement. Can pull the string on it and have it fall off the table late. Throws with deceptive arm speed. Lacks feel. Used to throw a splitter also, but shelved the pitch in 2021. Potential fringe-average offering.

Slider: 82-86 mph. Shorter, 10-to-4 shape. Pitch is inconsistent; does not always snap it off. When he does, pitch has flashed bat-missing ability. Can land for a strike or bury down and out of the zone. Potential solid-average offering.

Curveball: 80-82 mph. Vertical with longer break. Get-me-over pitch designed to steal a strike. Potential below-average offering.
  Career Notes: Two-way player in high school who was also a switch-hitting shortstop. Showed great range and athleticism at short. Was reportedly overused on the mound. Pitched for Taiwan in the 2017 U-18 World Cup. Went to Culture University out of high school rather than enter the CBPL draft. Took a break from pitching for two seasons to rest his arm. Returned to pitching in 2019, dialing his fastball up to 98 mph. Was named MVP of the 2019 Asian Baseball Championship, where he was a teammate of Tzu-Wei Lin. Did not pitch much in 2020 spring training because the team had him quarantine after arriving in Fort Myers during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and camp was ended before he could really take the mound. Participated in 2020 Fall Instructional League, essentially his stateside debut. At Instructs, his velocity was down (fastball was 88-92 mph) and none of his pitches projected as better than average. In 2021, velocity started to tick back up and secondaries showed more potential, but his velocity was still down from where he was reportedly at before he signed. Still was promoted from the FCL to Low-A Salem after a single start, largely based on a strong Extended Spring Training showing. Participated in the Fall Performance Program in 2021. Spent 2023 and 2024 with Portland. Was only able to pitch in 7 games in 2024 due to nagging arm injuries.

Summation: Profiles as a high minors depth arm. Has not yet shown consistency with his stuff from outing-to-outing and year-to-year.

Links

Scout Chatter (12.4.2020)
Scouting Report Update (3.1.2021)
Scouting Report Update (3.4.2022)
 
   
     
    Pitching Stats                                          
  year team lg level org age w l era g gs sv ip h r er hr hbp bb so whip k/9 bb/9
2020 Season Cancelled --- --- Bos 21 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
  2021 FCL Red Sox FCL Rk Bos 22 0 0 3.60 1 1 0 5.0 3 2 2 2 0 0 6 0.60 10.80 0.00
  2021 Salem Red Sox LAE A Bos 22 5 1 4.29 12 12 0 50.1 49 26 24 4 2 19 54 1.35 9.70 3.40
  2022 Greenville Drive SAL A+ Bos 23 4 11 6.10 25 21 0 100.1 112 71 68 27 4 46 106 1.58 9.51 4.13
  2022 Portland Sea Dogs East AA Bos 23 0 0 4.91 1 1 0 3.2 2 2 2 1 0 3 2 1.36 4.91 7.36
  2023 Portland Sea Dogs East AA Bos 24 7 8 5.35 26 24 0 114.1 117 74 68 19 8 61 145 1.56 11.41 4.80
  2024 FCL Red Sox FCL Rk Bos 25 1 0 0.00 1 0 0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1.0 15.00 0.00
  2024 Portland Sea Dogs East AA Bos 25 1 1 4.00 6 4 0 18.0 14 8 8 4 1 9 29 1.28 14.50 4.50
  2025 Portland Sea Dogs East AA Bos 26     stats                            
   
     
  Advanced Stats & Splits
   
     
  Awards   SoxProspects.com Awards  
  2019 Asian Baseball Championship MVP
Eastern League Pitcher of the Week (May 1-7, 2023)
  SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (July 5-11, 2021)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (August 9-15, 2021)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (May 1-7, 2023)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (July 10-16, 2023)
 
   

   
     
 
 
 
     
 
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