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Boyang Cao – Closer – Harbin Hellcats – 69.0% Third Ballot

Boyang Cao was a 6’5’’, 200 pound left-handed relief pitcher from Huicheng, a district of around two million in south China’s Guangdong Province. Cao was a very hard thrower with outstanding stuff along with solid control and above average movement. His 97-99 mph cut fastball and his curveball were both equally potent at drawing whiffs.

Compared to most relievers, Cao had excellent stamina and durability and was seemingly always available. Despite that, he did receive criticism for a lackluster work ethic. Cao graded as an excellent defensive pitcher and was among the best at holding runners, making him a reliable choice to get you out of jams.

Guys who project as career relievers often aren’t the highest draft pick, but being a hard-throwing tall lefty goes a long way. Cao was picked 21^st overall by Harbin in CLB’s 2001 Draft and was the Hellcats closer immediately. He thrived right away, winning Reliever of the Year as a rookie with a third place in Rookie of the Year voting. Cao also had four scoreless playoff innings and two saves in 2002, although the Hellcats were defeated by Shenyang in the semifinal.

In 2003, Harbin went 101-61 and won it all, defeating Kunming in the China Series. Cao led the league with 52 saves and 81 games, but took second in Reliever of the Year voting. In the playoffs, he allowed one run over 4.1 innings and earned three saves. That would be his last playoff appearance for Harbin, as they would go on a nine-year playoff drought after. From 2004-09, the Hellcats would only once finish above .500.

Cao kept rolling though, winning Reliever of the Year again in 2004, 2005, and 2008. He became the fifth closer in CLB history to win the award four times. Cao took third in 2006 and second in 2009 as well. By WAR, 2004 was his best at 6.3, while his best strikeout total was 175 as a rookie. Cao’s best ERA of 0.92 in 2008, which also saw him lead in saves for the second time. In 2010, he was the eighth in CLB history to earn 300 career saves.

In addition, from 2003-12 Cao was a regular for China in the World Baseball Championship. He was especially potent in China’s fourth place 2005 effort, tossing 9.1 scoreless innings with 7 saves and 20 strikeouts. Over 62 innings, he had a 1.45 ERA, 12 saves, 117 strikeouts, 21 walks, 250 ERA+, and 2.8 WAR.

With Harbin, Cao had 329 saves, a 1.42 ERA, 64-47 record, 800 innings, 1338 strikeouts, 142 walks, 177 ERA+, and 40.5 WAR. Among CLB Hall of Famers as of 2037, he has the 7th-best WAR and ranks 5^th in saves. He didn’t reach the innings requirement to qualify on the rate stat leaderboards, but his ERA would be 4^th and WHIP would be 3^rd best if he qualified.

Of course, departing early did hurt his grand tallies and had some voters skeptical. While he was excellent in nine CLB seasons, that just wasn’t enough for many voters. Some would give Cao partial credit for his post-China career, while others didn’t. Thus, he barely missed the 66% induction requirement at 64.6% and 63.0% initially. Cao got the slight bump to 69.3% on his third try, earning his spot in Chinese League Baseball’s 2022 Hall of Fame class.

Cao left Harbin after the 2010 season as a soon-to-be 32-year old free agent. His CLB and WBC dominance earned worldwide suitors, leading to a one-year, $6,900,000 deal with MLB’s Tampa Thunderbirds. Cao saw limited use in middle relief with a 4.02 ERA over 47 innings. He did notably toss 7.1 scoreless playoff innings, playing a small role in a World Series win for Tampa. The Thunderbirds wouldn’t keep Cao around however.

Charlotte signed him next with a three-year, $23,700,000 deal. Still, Cao only had limited use with a 4.63 ERA over 44.2 innings for the Canaries. He was cut in May 2013 and picked up two weeks later by Quebec City. After struggling to a 6.39 ERA over 25.1 innings, the Nordiques cut Cao in August. Seattle picked him up later that month for one appearance. His MLB career lasted three seasons with a 4.72 ERA over 120 innings, 127 strikeouts, and zero WAR.

Cao ended up in Spain for 2014 with Zaragoza of the European Baseball Federation, where he was again unremarkable in middle relief. He then joined Birmingham in 2015 and had an impressive resurgence. The 36-year old Cao reclaimed the closer role and led in games pitched (77) with a 2.28 ERA, 120 strikeouts, and 3.7 WAR. He won Reliever of the Year, his fifth counting the CLB days. Cao remained the closer in 2016 for the Bees, but saw notable struggles with a 4.45 ERA over 83 innings.

In 2017, Cao was a part-time closer for Oslo with a 3.34 ERA over 67.1 innings and 1.6 WAR. Tirana signed him for 2018, but cut him in the summer after 21.1 decent innings. Cao finished the year with Cologne for 14 innings, then retired at age 40 after going unsigned in 2019. For his EBF run, Cao had 89 saves, a 3.41 ERA, 319.1 innings, 356 strikeouts, 69 walks, 111 ERA+, and 7.8 WAR.

For his combined pro career, Cao had 421 saves and 522 shutdowns, 98-68 record, 2.25 ERA, 1239.1 innings, 1820 strikeouts, 251 walks, 139 ERA+, and 48.3 WAR. The Harbin run does the heavy lifting, but Cao managed to make a couple top 50s when looking at combined numbers in pro baseball history.

Among all relievers. He ranks 47^th in saves, 34^th in strikeouts, 47^th in shutdowns, 50^th in WAR, and his .475 opponent’s OPS is 16^th. He managed that between dominance early in his career and longevity despite being largely forgettable in his 30s. Cao isn’t in the inner circle of all-time relief pitchers, but he was certainly impressive in his prime and worthy of recognition.



Seok-Hyeon So – Left Field – Shenyang Swans – 67.6% Ninth Ballot

Seok-Hyeon So was a 6’0’’, 200 pound right-handed left fielder from Haenam, a county of 63,000 inhabitants in southwestern South Korea. As of 2037, So is the only Korean-born inductee into Chinese League Baseball’s Hall of Fame and one of only four born outside of mainland China or Hong Kong. So was known for having strong home run power along with an excellent eye for drawing walks.

On the downside, So was a subpar contact hitter with a terrible strikeout rate. Still, he drew enough walks and made his hits count to be an effective hitter regardless. More than half of his career hits went for extra bases with a 162 game average of 29 homers, 16 doubles, and 14 triples. So also had very good speed and was an adept base stealer.

So played left field exclusively and graded out as just below average in total. He was considered solid early in his career and even won a Gold Glove in 2002, but he was firmly weak in his later years. So maintained excellent durability, starting 146+ games in all but his first and final seasons. His personality was unassuming, but So ended up a popular figure with his entire CLB career coming with Shenyang.

South Korean players almost exclusively played in East Asia Baseball, but a teenaged So ended up striking up a relationship with a scout from Shenyang. They eventually convinced him to move to China, joining the Swans’ academy in September 1988. He wasn’t an overnight success, spending most of seven years in the developmental system. So debuted in 1994 at age 22 with 35 games and seven starts, but struggled in the small sample size. He then spent all of 1995 back on the reserve roseter.

In 1996, So was given the full-time starting gig and immediately found his footing. Each season for the next 13 years for Shenyang was worth 6+ WAR. He won a Silver Slugger in 1997 and led in runs scored in 1998. The Swans hadn’t been a playoff team in their history until taking the final slot in 1998. Shenyang went on a surprise run to the China Series, falling in the final to Harbin.So had an excellent showing in 14 playoff starts with 13h hits, 9 runs, 5 triples, 4 homers, 9 RBI, 7 walks, and 5 steals.

Shenyang missed the playoffs the next three years, but So chugged along and signed an eight-year, $23,960,000 extension after the 2000 season. In 2002, the Swans made the China Series from the #3 seed. The Swans would again be defeated in the final, this time by Kunming. So again was a strong playoff performer with 12 hits, 9 runs, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homers, and 9 RBI in 16 starts. The Swans would lose in the first round in 2003 and wouldn’t get back to the playoffs for the rest of So’s run.

So rarely was a league leader early in his career, but began posting up even stronger stats in his 30s. From 2002-07, he led the Northern League six straight seasons in walks drawn. He led in runs scored each year from 2004-07. So led in homers from 2003-05 and in RBI in 2005. In 2004 and 2005, So led in total bases, slugging, OPS, and wRC+. So won four consecutive Silver Sluggers from 2003-06.

His lone MVP win came in 2004 at age 32 with his lone WARlord title with a career best 10.5. This year also had his highest homer total at 44 and most runs scored at 106. The next year saw his best in RBI (98), total bases (314), triple slash (.262/.355/.572), OPS (.927), and wRC+ (212). So was third in 2002’s MVP voting, second in 2003, and second in 2005.

During that peak run, he did also return home to South Korea for the World Baseball Championship, playing from 2003-05 and in 2009. In 58 games, So had 43 hits, 40 runs, 7 doubles, 24 home runs, 38 RBI, 38 walks, 18 stolen bases, a .230/.364/.652 slash, 180 wRC+, and 3.4 WAR.

In 2003, South Korea took runner-up to the United States with So posting 0.9 WAR over 26 games despite 43 strikeouts and a 39.8% strikeout rate. He still whiffed a lot for 2004’s fourth place finish, but he led all players in homers (10), RBI (17), walks (15), and WAR (1.5).

In his final year with Shenyang in 2008, So still posted a strong 6.6 WAR effort. However, his sub-.200 batting average concerned some officials who opted to let him leave as his deal ran out. So remained a popular figure in Shenyang and his #11 uniform would later be retired. He became a free agent for the first time at age 37 and started a worldwide search for his next gig.

So signed a two-year, $9,680,000 with Rawalpindi of the Asian Baseball Federation. He was a solid starter in his debut with 4.3 WAR and a league-best 115 walks. So struggled in his second year and was relegated to a part-time starting role. However, he did earn a championship ring as the Red Wings beat Baku for the ABF Championship. So retired that winter, getting 156 hits, 128 runs, 19 doubles, 45 homers, 97 RBI, 176 walks, 110 steals, a .180/.321/.372 slash, 117 wRC+, and 4.7 WAR with Rawalpindi.

For his Shenyang tenure, So had 1584 hits, 1080 runs, 216 doubles, 207 triples, 387 home runs, 925 RBI, 1018 walks, 2335 strikeouts, 670 stolen bases, a .224/.322/.476 slash, 168 wRC+, and 99.8 WAR. As of 2037, So ranks 10^th in runs, 30^th in total bases (3375), 14^th in triples, 26^th in home runs, 36^th in RBI, 24^th in stolen bases, 1^st in walks, 3^rd in strikeouts, and 17^th in WAR among position players.

So’s case was a tricky one for many voters. Even with CLB having an extremely low scoring environment, his batting average and hit tally was too low for many voters and his strikeout rate was way too high. So was the all-time walks leader in CLB, but that wasn’t the most prized stat. Working in his favor were two strong playoff runs and leading the league multiple times in homers and runs scored.

Advanced stats showed that between walks, extra base hits, and great baserunning, So was a very valuable offensive player in spite of his flaws. He never got less than 56% of the vote, but many of his detractors were incredibly stubborn. He barely budged from 2014-19 on the ballot, although he got to 61.0% in 2015. So got close in 2020 at 64.0% and 62.3% in 2021.

2022 would be his ninth opportunity to make the cut and this time So narrowly did. At 67.6%, he inched across the 66% line to secure his spot with CLB’s three-player 2022 Hall of Fame class. So became the fifth player to be inducted on his ninth ballot or later.