Blue Jays tab veteran Wang for Tuesday - 棒球

Blue Jays tab veteran Wang for Tuesday start
TORONTO --

After about a week of speculation, the Blue Jays confirmed that Chien-Ming
Wang has signed with the club and will start Tuesday's game against the
White Sox.

The start was originally intended for Chad Jenkins, but general manager
Alex Anthopoulos liked what he's seen from the Taiwanese right-hander.

"Wang, even at the Minor League level, has had a lot more success than
Chad has," Anthopoulos said."Then you look, obviously, at what he's done
in his career, his experience.

"[He'll throw] a lot of strikes, get a lot of ground balls. He's not going
to strike too many guys out, but he's going to induce contact and he should
pitch deep into the game if he's having success."

Wang, 33, had been pitching for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, but was
granted his release in order to pursue an opportunity in the Major Leagues.
The seven-year veteran signed a $500,000 contract with the Blue Jays earlier
this week, with a corresponding move to place Wang on the team's roster
pending.

The Blue Jays are only guaranteeing one start for the two-time 19 game
winner, but would be more than happy to give him more based on his
performance.

"We hope he makes a lot of starts for us, but you don't want to promise X
number amount of starts," Anthopoulos said. "Hopefully he does well, and
we catch lightning in the bottle with him."

Wang was 4-4 with a 2.33 ERA in 58 innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and
pitched 12 scoreless innings at the World Baseball Classic.

Wang struggled last year with the Nationals, going 2-3 with a 6.68 ERA,
and giving up 50 hits in only 32 1/3 innings.

It's been an ongoing trend for the right-hander, whose injury woes dating
back to 2008 have derailed a once-promising career.

Part of the reason Toronto signed him was to acquire pitching depth. With
Brandon Morrow and J.A. Happ on the disabled list, and Ricky Romero working
on finding his form in Triple-A Buffalo, the Blue Jays are thin on
replacement options.

"If Chad makes that start and something else happens to another starter,
I don't know who the next guy would be right now," Anthopoulos said.

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