Hong-Chih Kuo

Hong-Chih Kuo (born July 23, 1981, in Tainan, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese retired professional baseball pitcher who last pitched for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).

He had previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in CPBL.

Kuo was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers on June 19, 1999, for a bonus of $1.25 million, but elbow problems prevented him from participating with the team.

He underwent two Tommy John surgeries in 2000 and 2003, respectively.

When Kuo made his debut in 2005, he became the fourth MLB player from Taiwan (after Chin-Feng Chen, Chin-Hui Tsao, and Chien-Ming Wang).

It wasn't until 2005 that Kuo was able to pitch again on a consistent basis.

That year, he pitched 11 games for the Vero Beach Dodgers and 17 games for the Jacksonville Suns before coming out of the bullpen for his Major League debut on September 2, 2005, against the Colorado Rockies.

Kuo started the 2006 season as a relief pitcher.

After giving up eight earned runs on 15 walks in only 13 innings pitched in April, he was sent down to the Dodgers' AAA affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.

That May and June in AAA he posted a 3.75 ERA in Las Vegas in 12 innings, striking out 18, but walking eight.

He was called up by the Dodgers in June.

Over June and July 2006, Kuo had a 5.74 ERA in 14 1⁄3 innings pitched.

Back in Las Vegas for most of July, the Dodgers decided to start Kuo rather than have him work out of the bullpen, hoping that the increased innings would give him a chance to improve his control, and that ample rest between appearances would protect his fragile elbow.

His ERA in July was 5.19, with 17 strikeouts and eight walks in 17 1⁄3 IP.

However, in his last start of the month, he had his longest appearance in several years, pitching five shutout innings.

Kuo built upon that with a 1.14 ERA in five August starts, striking out 28 in 23 2⁄3 innings.

On September 8, 2006, Kuo made his first start in the major leagues after more than 30 relief appearances.

In his debut, he tossed six shutout innings and led the Dodgers to a 5–0 victory over the New York Mets.

His next three starts were largely successful, and Kuo ended the season with a 2.59 ERA as a starter.

A spring training injury kept Kuo from starting the 2007 season in the Dodgers' rotation, but he eventually reclaimed his starting pitcher role.

On June 12, 2007, Kuo hit a 412-foot home run and became the first Taiwanese player to hit a home run in MLB.

The Dodgers won 4–1 in that game.

Kuo picked up his first win of the season with that game.

Kuo started the season competing with Esteban Loaiza for the fifth starter spot in the Dodgers rotation.

Off-season elbow surgery raised doubts about his endurance, so Kuo was made a long-reliever by manager Joe Torre.

He has also served in middle relief and set-up.

Against the New York Mets on May 6, Kuo came in during the fourth inning in relief of Hiroki Kuroda, and pitched 3 2⁄3 scoreless innings without giving up a hit, striking out 8 of the 12 batters he faced, and securing his second victory of the year.

Kuo recorded his first career save on August 14 against the Phillies when he pitched two scoreless innings without allowing a hit.

Kuo finished the 2008 season with a 5–3 record, appeared in 42 games, three games as a starter and 39 games in relief, and accumulated an overall ERA of 2.14 with 96 strikeouts in 80 innings.

Kuo led all National League relievers with an ERA of 1.69.

In his 39 relief appearances, he allowed only 49 hits in 69 1⁄3 innings, striking out 86 batters, while limiting the opposition to a .204 average.

A triceps injury forced him to miss the last 15 games of the regular season, but he recovered in time for the National League Championship series and was activated on October 9.

He appeared in three games during the Championship series, logging three innings, allowing two hits and one earned run, while striking out three.

Kuo was named the 2008 Setup Man of the Year, voted by the fans on MLB.com as part of the website's This Year in Baseball Awards.

Kuo began the 2009 season in the Dodgers' bullpen but injured his elbow and was placed on the disabled list on May 2.

He did not rejoin the team until July 27 but returned to form and pitched in 35 games for the Dodgers' bullpen, ending with an ERA of 3.00.

Kuo in the first half pitched in middle relief and set a record by giving up 0 hits against 36 consecutive left-handed batters.

The performance earned him a spot in the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game as a replacement for Jason Heyward, thus becoming the first Taiwanese-born player to be so honored.

In the second half of the season Kuo replaced Jonathan Broxton as the Dodgers closer after Broxton struggled in the role.

On October 3, 2010, Kuo pitched a scoreless 9th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, earning his 12th save of the season while setting a new Dodgers franchise record in finishing the season with an ERA of 1.20, the record for minimum of 50 innings pitched.