Hillcats' Cheng shuts out Myrtle Beach

The Toronto organization was convinced Chi-Hung Cheng wasn’t the same pitcher that he was before he underwent surgery on his left shoulder. Cheng was a workhorse for two seasons for Toronto’s low-A affiliate in Lansing, Mich., racking up 280 1/3 innings, an 18-11 record and a 2.92 ERA in 2005 and 2006.

Then came the surgery, and in his first full season back, Cheng’s stats dripped dramatically. Pre-surgery, he struck out 296 and walked 140 in two Lansing seasons. In his final season with the Midwest League club, in 2008, he struck out 71, walked 49 and allowed opponents to bat .318 against him, taking advantage of a fastball that had lost a good bit of its zip.

Thinking they had damaged goods in their hands, the Blue Jays washed their hands of Cheng, releasing him. Cheng floated on the free-agent market for about three months before the Pirates took a flier on him, signing him to a minor-league free-agent deal last December.

Pitching above the low-A level for the first time in his career, Cheng has so far made the most of his second chance. The 23-year-old from Taiwan tossed five scoreless innings Monday night in the Hillcats’ 4-0 victory over Myrtle Beach at City Stadium, continuing a strong start to the season.

Lynchburg has won every game in which Cheng has appeared. Take away one disastrous start in Kinston on April 23, and Cheng has been one of the Hillcats’ top pitchers. He improved to 3-0 with the win Monday, and his ERA dipped to 4.13. Take away the messy turn in Kinston (nine hits, seven earned runs in three innings), and Cheng has 1.50 ERA.

His troubles that night were simple.

“I left the ball up, threw no first-pitch strikes,” Cheng said. “So they got a lot of hits.”

The opposite happened Monday. The lefthanded Cheng consistently attacked the lower half of the plate, and the Pelicans couldn’t touch him. He allowed four hits — three singles — and got into trouble only once, when Myrtle Beach put runners at first and third with one out in the fourth.

Cheng battled Myrtle’s Jon Mark Owings and eventually caught him looking for a third strike. Then he locked down the Pelicans’ top power threat, striking out Cody Johnson swinging to end the threat.

“He’s pounding the zone and pounding the bottom of the zone,” Hillcats manager P.J. Forbes said. “He’s got a changeup that he throws off his fastball to keep hitters off balance. When he locates like he did tonight — at the bottom of the zone and on both sides of the plate — he can be very effective.”

Perhaps that’s what the Pirates were banking on when they took a chance on Cheng. There’s always a need for lefthanded relief specialists at the big-league level. Though he’s only 23, he has six years of minor-league experience. He began his career as an 18-year-old fresh out of high school in Taiwan, throwing for the Blue Jays’ Appalachian League team in Pulaski. He made 14 starts that year, going 3-1 with a 2.82 ERA.

Cheng started in the bullpen this season in Lynchburg but quickly moved into the rotation when another lefty, Bryan Morris, went down with a shoulder injury. Morris is expected to return to Lynchburg sometime this month, meaning Cheng’s status in the rotation could be up in the air. But Cheng has been happy to take advantage of this extended audition.

“I’m just trying to throw strikes, and not trying to throw too hard,” Cheng said. “I just want to work hard and do my job.”