Giljegiljaw Kungkuan (; ; born March 13, 1994 in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

), also known as Giljaw or Giyaw, previously known as Chu Li-Jen ( zh, t=朱立人), is a Taiwanese professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Wei Chuan Dragons The Wei Chuan Dragons () are a Taiwanese professional baseball team. They are a member of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The team originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations were held to revive the fran ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL). Giljegiljaw signed with the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2012, and stayed with the organization until 2020 when he left to play for the Dragons.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Giljegiljaw began his professional career with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

as a non-signed free agent, being signed on November 29, 2012 by Jason Lynn and Allen Lin. He was signed for $40,000 as one of several players from Taiwan the team was signing at the time. From 2014 to 2016, Giljegiljaw spent time with the rookie-level

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is ...

, Low-A

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

, and Single-A

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following ...

, failing to get more than 150 plate appearances in a season. The 2017 season with the Single-A Lake County saw Giljegiljaw break this streak by getting 518 plate appearances and getting selected as a Midwest League Postseason All-Star. In 125 appearances for the team, he batted .269/.339/.426 with 17 home runs and 67 RBI. Giljegiljaw spent time with the High-A

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinn ...

, Double-A

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park (Akron, Ohio) ...

, and Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

in 2018, slashing .272/.340/.425 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI. Giljegiljaw spent the 2019 season with Akron, playing in 60 games and hitting .229/.290/.357 with five home runs and 25 RBI. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Giljegiljaw became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Wei Chuan Dragons

In the 2021

CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

draft, Giljegiljaw was selected second overall by the

. On August 20, 2021, the Dragons announced they had agreed to a 2.4-year, NT$12.93 million contract with Giljegiljaw. Along with the monthly salary from the contract, it included a NT$850,000 incentive bonus. He didn't play in a game for the main team until 2021, where he spent some time with the minor league team before joining the major club's roster. That season, he hit .256/.310/.458 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI across 54 games. In 2022, Giljegiljaw became the CPBL home run champion by hitting 14 home runs, the fewest home runs hit by a home run champion in the league. This lowered number was caused by a change to the balls used by the league, which lowered the ball's

coefficient of restitution In physics, the coefficient of restitution (COR, also denoted by ''e''), can be thought of as a measure of the elasticity of a collision between two bodies. It is a dimensionless parameter defined as the ratio of the relative velocity of sepa ...

and raised the seams. That season, he played in 88 contests and slashed .286/.350/.481 with 56 RBI in addition to his home runs.

International career

Giljegiljaw played in the 2008 PONY World Series and was the home run derby winner. Giljegiljaw was selected for the

Chinese Taipei national baseball team The Chinese Taipei national baseball team ( zh, t=中華臺北棒球代表隊, p=Zhōnghuá Táiběi Bàngqiú Dàibiǎoduì) is the national men's baseball team of Taiwan. It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is r ...

at the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

. In 12 at bats, he got 4 hits and a home run.

Personal life

Giljegiljaw is an Indigenous Taiwanese and belongs to the Paiwan tribe. He was previously known by the Han Chinese name Chu Li-Jen, which his father Kuljelju Kungkuan (Chu Hsin-de) chose in tribute to

Sun Li-jen Sun Li-jen ( zh, t=孫立人 , s=孙立人 , p=Sūn Lìrén, first=t; December 8, 1900November 19, 1990) was a Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist (KMT) General officer, general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute in the United States, bes ...

. He has used his Paiwan name, meaning "brave warrior" and given to him by his grandmother, with his family and adopted it legally in 2019 so that it would be written on his jersey while playing for Cleveland. He is also known by the childhood nickname "Giyaw" and his teammates in Cleveland, finding "Giljegiljaw" difficult to pronounce, called him "Gilly".

References

External links

CPBL
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giljegiljaw, Kungkuan 1994 births Living people Columbus Clippers players Akron RubberDucks players Lake County Captains players Arizona League Indians players Glendale Desert Dogs players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Baseball catchers Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in the United States 2023 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players from Taichung Paiwan people Lynchburg Hillcats players Taiwanese indigenous sportspeople