Kai-Wei Teng (; born December 1, 1998) 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 ...

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in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization. He made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) debut in 2024.

Early life and education

Teng attended Shi Yuan Senior High School 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 ...

before transferring to Kao-Yuan Vocational High School of Technology & Commerce in

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

. He enrolled at the

National Taiwan Sport University The National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU; ) is a public university specializing in sports in Taoyuan City, Taoyuan, Taiwan. NTSU offers a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, including bachelor's and master's degrees in fields suc ...

Career

Minnesota Twins

On October 20, 2017, the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

signed Teng for a $500,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie–level Gulf Coast League Twins in 2018, making 10 appearances (9 starts) and posting a 3.59 ERA with 47 strikeouts in innings pitched. He began the 2019 season with the

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium (Cedar Rapids), Veter ...

of the Single–A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, and was named the league's pitcher of the week for the week ending July 14. In 9 games for Cedar Rapids, Teng logged a 4–0 record and 1.60 ERA.

San Francisco Giants

On July 31, 2019, the Twins traded Teng, Jaylin Davis, and Prelander Berroa to the

in exchange for Sam Dyson. He made five starts for the Single–A

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina. History Augusta was a member of the S ...

, recording a 1.55 ERA with 39 strikeouts across innings of work. Teng 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 ...

. On June 2, 2021, while pitching for the High–A

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays ...

, he was suspended for 10 games after umpires found a foreign substance in his glove. In 21 starts for Eugene, Teng recorded a 4.33 ERA with 142 strikeouts in innings of work. Teng spent the 2022 season with the Double–A

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

, making 28 starts and registering a 6–12 record and 5.22 ERA with a career–high 169 strikeouts in innings pitched. Teng began the 2023 season back with Double–A Richmond, starting 12 games and posting a 4.75 ERA with 68 strikeouts in innings of work. On June 18, 2023, he was promoted to the Triple–A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland ...

. In 17 games (16 starts) for Sacramento, Teng logged a 6–5 record and 4.22 ERA with 96 strikeouts across 76 innings pitched. On November 14, 2023, the Giants added Teng to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He spent some time in major league spring training, and was optioned to Triple–A Sacramento to begin the 2024 season. On March 29, 2024, Teng was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Teng made his major league debut in relief of Daulton Jefferies, pitching three innings while yielding four hits and three runs. In 4 games during his rookie campaign, he struggled to a 9.82 ERA with 7 strikeouts over 11 innings of work. Teng was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by San Francisco on November 19. On November 22, the Giants non–tendered Teng, making him a free agent. On November 29, 2024, Teng re–signed with the Giants organization on a minor league contract.

International career

Teng played for the Taiwanese national team (Chinese Taipei) in the 2019 Asian Baseball Championship, pitching in the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

game against Japan, which Taiwan won. He is included on their roster for 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 ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teng, Kaiwei 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Taichung Major League Baseball players from Taiwan Major League Baseball pitchers San Francisco Giants players Gulf Coast Twins players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Augusta GreenJackets players Eugene Emeralds players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players 2023 World Baseball Classic players Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in the United States