Taiwan’s national team inexplicably went through the World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifiers without a team athletic trainer in the dugout, a situation team captain Chen Chieh-hsien said he hopes would not reoccur.
“To players, an athletic trainer is an indispensable part of the game,” Chen, who also serves as president of the Taiwan Professional Baseball Players’ Association, told the Central News Agency on Saturday, four days after Taiwan clinched a spot in next year’s WBC.
Although Taiwan advanced, the lack of a team trainer became a point of contention after the tournament, as Chen revealed that the team — including himself — had competed “uncomfortably” for “a number of reasons” throughout the qualifiers.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Chen, who represented Taiwan in the 2023 WBC and last year’s World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12, acknowledged that the team’s management had generally taken good care of the players in the past, but the qualifiers were different due to stricter credential rules.
Each team was allocated 39 official credentials, including 28 for players. The remaining 11 passes were distributed at each team’s discretion.
Both Nicaragua and Spain, who defeated Taiwan during the series, had athletic trainers, while Taiwan did not.
The CPBL, which assembled the national team, said nine of the remaining passes were assigned to coaches and the other two to unidentified “support personnel.”
MLB, the WBC organizer, provided each team with a trainer who did not count against the credential limit, but their lack of familiarity with individual players’ conditions made it hard for them to get the most out of the players.
Calling the team’s regular athletic trainers “the managers of our bodies,” Chen said generally they were responsible for helping players deal with physical issues before, during and after games.
Their duties include helping players stretch, treat injuries and relax their muscles, but their absence from the dugout and the locker room during the qualifiers disrupted the team’s preparation, he said.
“They are the ones who know best what we need and how we go through our routines,” Chen said.
Aside from Chen, other players who appeared in need of a trainer during the WBC qualifiers included outfielder Lin Chia-wei and pitcher Sha Tzu-chen.
Lin was struck in the face by a ball that bounced off the field after he failed to make a diving catch in the opener against Spain, while Sha, who started the second game against South Africa, was pulled due to cramping in his feet after pitching 2-2/3 scoreless innings.
“Of course, [I] hope we will have everything we need in the future,” Chen said. “That way, players will be fully prepared both physically and mentally, and can give their best to the game.”
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