Concord, Ca- Congratulations to Chih-Wei Hu (Robin). training at Gamespeed since 2010 he has continued to improve and impress. He spends his off seasons working with Aaron Thigpen and coach Tony Laio who have put together a complete conditioning and pitching program.  This partnership and his complete management has translated into the building of an exciting prospect. Robin continues to rise. Well done.
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Rays No. 13 prospect hurls seven scoreless frames, leads level in ERA

In 33 1/3 innings for Montgomery this season, Chih-Wei Hu has fanned 34 and walked eight. (Brian McLeod/MiLB.com)

Courtesy Milb.com- Chih-Wei Hu’s lone start at Triple-A this season didn’t go too well, but that hasn’t deterred the Rays’ No. 13 prospect from dominating Double-A competition.

“If anything, I think it might’ve helped him,” Montgomery manager Brady Williams said. “He knew he was going up there only making one start and coming back. He came back and pitched the same way he pitched when he left.”

Hu turned in another sterling outing for the Biscuits on Saturday in their 5-0 shutout of Jacksonville at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. He allowed four hits and one walk while striking out two over seven innings to lower his ERA to a Double-A-best 0.54.

“He commanded all of his pitches very well to both sides of the plate,” Williams said. “He was just in control the whole game. He has pitched like that for majority of the season. He’s been impressive.”

Apart from his April 23 spot start for Durham in which he allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings, the Taichung, Taiwan, native has allowed two earned runs over 33 1/3 innings for Montgomery this season. Williams credits Hu’s ability to keep the ball down for his success.

“He works down in the zone as good as anybody I’ve seen in a while,” the manager said. “So when he goes up in the zone, guys don’t necessarily hit him very well. He’s just consistently getting low strikes.”

The 22-year-old right-hander, who trails only Class A Greensboro’s Ben Holmes for the Minors’ lead in ERA, induced nine groundouts to seven flyouts in his longest outing of the season. He threw 73 of 104 pitches for strikes and recorded nine outs on three pitches or fewer.

“He probably could’ve gone deeper,” Williams said. “Earlier in the game, there were at least 10 foul balls. Guys were just battling him early on. Then he finally had some easier outs as his outing went along to allow him pitch deeper in the game.”