Lin Hung-yu

Lin Hung-yu is a Taiwanese professional baseball catcher for the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Career

In 2008, Lin was drafted by the La New Bears and assigned to their minor league team.
Lin made his pro debut on March 20 with the La New Bears, hitting 5th behind Chin-Feng Chen and catching for a team depleted by a gambling scandal over the offseason. Lin had a strong debut, going 2 for 4. He hit.303/.337/.434 as a rookie in 2010 but did not take home Rookie of the Year honors, which went instead to pitcher Ching-Ming Wang. He ranked among the CPBL leaders in average, doubles, RBI and slugging.
In 2011, Lin was better yet at.321/.378/.544 with 22 home runs and 106 RBI for the Lamigo Monkeys. He was among the leaders in average, slugging, OPS, OBP, doubles, RBI, home runs and runs.
Lin made 105 appearances for Rakuten in 2025, slashing.307/.345/.415 with nine home runs and 60 RBI. With the Monkeys, Lin won the 2025 Taiwan Series.

International career

He was selected Chinese Taipei national baseball team at the 2006 World University Baseball Championship, 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week, 2009 World Port Tournament, 2009 Baseball World Cup, 2013 World Baseball Classic, 2015 WBSC Premier12 and 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series exhibition game against Japan.
In the 2009 World Port Tournament, Lin hit.296/.345/.407 as a C-DH, splitting backstop duties with Kun-Sheng Lin. He was with Taiwan for the 2009 Asian Baseball Championship.
In 2009 Baseball World Cup, serving as their cleanup hitter and DH. He hit.241/.250/.500 with a team-high four homers and 16 RBI in 15 games, showing great power but poor OBP and strikeout skills. He had game-winning hits against Australia and Japan.