Fu-Te Ni

Fu-Te Ni (Chinese: 倪福德; pinyin: Ní Fúdé; Wade–Giles: Ni Fu-te; born November 14, 1982)^[1] is a Taiwanese professional baseball pitcher for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Ni was a professional baseball player from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). After his franchise, the Chinatrust Whales, disbanded on November 11, 2008, he signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers in 2009.

Ni was called up to the Major Leagues in June 2009, becoming the sixth Taiwanese player to enter Major League Baseball. He is also the first player to transition from the CPBL to MLB. Ni made his major league debut on June 29, 2009 against the Oakland Athletics.

Taiwanese career

Ni was drafted by the CPBL team Chinatrust Whales in 2005. He signed with the team in early 2007 and played for the entire CPBL 2007 and 2008 seasons. In the two years Ni had a 12–24 record with seven holds, four saves and a 3.43 ERA in 267⅔ inning pitched. Ni won the CPBL strikeout Champion Award in 2008 season with 132 strikeouts. Ni also participated in the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

North American career

Detroit Tigers

Ni with the Detroit Tigers in 2009

Ni signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers on January 13, 2009. He was assigned to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens of the International League. In 24 games with the Mud Hens, Ni went 3–0 with a 2.60 ERA, and 32 strikeouts. Ni was called up on June 28, 2009 to replace the injured Nate Robertson.^[2][3] Ni is the sixth Taiwanese player to enter Major League Baseball, and the fourth pitcher.^[4] He made his debut on June 29, 2009 against the Oakland Athletics, allowing one run in 1.2 innings with 3 strikeouts. The first major league batter he faced was slugger Jason Giambi, and Ni struck him out. Ni pitched 36 games with the Tigers in 2009 and compiled no wins or losses with a 2.61 ERA and 21 strikeouts.

After accumulating a 6.65 ERA in 2010, Ni was optioned to the back to the Mud Hens on June 30, 2010.^[5]

In February 2011 the Tigers listed him as a non-roster invitee to spring training camp.^[6] On March 22, he was assigned to the Mud Hens.^[7] He was 6-3 with a 3.24 ERA in 34 games (including 12 starts). Ni was released by the Tigers on August 7, 2012 after he was 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA in 7 games (5 starts) during the 2012 season.

Los Angeles Dodgers

After not playing during the 2013 season, Ni was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers to a minor league contract on December 13, 2013. However, he was released on March 31.

Independent Baseball

Ni spent the 2014 season playing in the Atlantic League for two different teams. He began the year with the Lancaster Barnstormers before getting traded to the Camden Riversharks for future considerations.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Fu-Te Ni's online Album.