The numbers won't tell the whole story, but will help us understand the outcome of the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS. It is a fact that the numbers show that better pitching helped World No. 2 Chinese Taipei win the third edition of the Premier12.
Champions Chinese Taipei allowed a 2.51 earned run average. The difference between Japan (3.30), Venezuela (3.74), and the United States (3.91) is clear. It's even more clear that Chinese Taipei pitchers combined fewer walks (20) than Japan (34) or Venezuela (39). USA pitchers showed the same command (20 walks) and struck out more batters (86 versus 77).
It is interesting to notice that Japan had the most strikeouts (113) while Venezuela followed (92) although walks plagued both teams. The 39 Venezuela allowed, including 10 in the bronze medal game against the United States, made the difference.
Chinese Taipei's pitching staff counted on an outstanding bullpen. Yi Chang pitched five games and didn't allow a run, posting a 3-0 record. Kuan-Yu Chen and En Sih Huang also didn't allow a run, pitching six and four games, respectively.
Chinese Taipei boasted the fourth-best batting average of the Super Round teams (.265) and counted on the contribution of the Premier12's leading hitter Chieh-Hsien Chen, who finished with an unreal .625 batting average and earned MVP honours.
Japan had a .298 batting average, Venezuela .283, and USA .281.
World No. 4 Venezuela had the most home runs (13) with Carlos Eduardo Perez claiming three and Hernan Perez following with two.
World No. 5 USA (12 home runs) counted on the most outstanding power hitters: Matt Shaw (two home runs and 14 runs batted in, RBIs) and Ryan Ward (five home runs and 11 RBIs).
Chinese Taipei had 10 home runs, including two in the Championship Final. Japan was limited to seven, but five came during the Super Round.
World No. 1 Japan had the highest rated defence, but committed one more error than Venezuela (two versus three). USA finished with seven errors while Chinese Taipei committed five.
