Boston Red Sox prospect Chih-Jung Liu (he goes by CJ now) was pitching in game one of a doubleheader for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs on Friday.
The right-handed pitcher was having a mixed bag of a year to that point. His first start was going well until things derailed in the fifth inning. Then he threw five shutout innings. The next time out was his first "bad" start, allowing seven runs in 3 2/3 innings. Finally, Liu threw another five shutout innings.
If you were going off the pattern of his first four starts, Liu was due for a rough outing. The Taiwan native bucked the trend, though.
Red Sox prospect CJ Liu flirted with perfection in no-hitter Friday
Facing off with the Akron RubberDucks (seriously), Liu flirted with perfection. The 24-year-old retired the first eight batters he saw before walking the ninth. He then went through the next eight batters but walked the nine-hole hitter again.
Those two walks were all that Liu allowed. He pitched all seven innings, allowing no hits and walking two batters while striking out six. It was the first no-hitter of his MiLB career.
BOSTON RED SOX PROSPECT CJ LIU THROWS A SEVEN-INNING NO-HITTER IN DOUBLE-A!!! pic.twitter.com/se6374fLYZ
May 5, 2023Liu has an impressive season working for him all of a sudden. He holds a 3.65 ERA, .216 BAA, and 1.22 WHIP. Liu's struck out 29 batters in 24 2/3 innings in Double-A this season.
Before 2023, the pitcher had only made one appearance in Double-A. He was coming off a season that saw him struggle (6.06 ERA, .281 BAA, 1.57 WHIP in 104 innings). It was hard to figure out what you'd get from him.
In the early part of the season, he's shown promise and given the Red Sox a lot to be excited about. A no-hitter certainly puts a big stamp on things.
The Boston Red Sox brought Chih-Jung Liu over as a switch-hitting shortstop/pitcher from Taiwan. He's focused on the pitching in the organization, and on Friday, he gave confirmation to the baseball world that it's all coming around.