Wang Signs On With Atlanta…
The Atlanta Braves recently announced a few Minor League free agent signings. Two of the players that they signed spent time with the Charlotte Knights last season — pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Donnie Veal.
Overall, Veal spent three seasons with the Knights. I’ll take a look back at Veal’s career with the Knights in another Knight Fever blog this offseason — stay tuned.
As for Wang, he made his first start with the Knights on July 18 at BB&T Ballpark against his former team — the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. It was his second career start at BB&T Ballpark, however, as Wang pitched against the Knights on June 26 as a member of the Louisville Bats — who he started the season with. Wang, a former Major League standout, began the 2014 season in the Reds’ organization, before coming to the Knights in mid July.
The Taiwanese native posted an 8–5 record with a 3.70 ERA in 19 starts for the Bats before making his way to the White Sox organization. He officially opted out of his deal with the Reds and he signed a free agent deal with the White Sox. He was assigned to Charlotte, where he played the remainder of the season.
With the Knights, Wang compiled a 5–3 mark with a 5.06 ERA in nine starts. He won two of his games with the Knights at home, while his three wins came on the road. He did beat the Knights as a member of the Bats on June 26 as well.
Overall for the season, Wang went 13–8 with a 4.12 ERA in 28 starts for both Louisville and Charlotte. He finished second in the IL in wins (13), first in games started (28), and first in innings pitched (172.2).
The 34-year-old is a good signing for the Braves, who are in need of pitching depth. In eight seasons combined at the Major League level, Wang owns a 62–34 record with a 4.37 ERA. While he’s a number of years removed from his back-to-back 19-win Major League seasons with the Yankees (2006–07), Wang could still be a serviceable pitcher at the big league level. If he’s not in the Majors, we could potentially see him with Gwinnett when they come to Uptown Charlotte in April.
