Navarro builds trust; Yeh Chun-chang: Different from Taiwan's 'spare the rod, spoil the child' approach
Wei Chuan Dragons' pitching coach Jaime Navarro has helped the team achieve the lowest ERA in the CPBL by building trust with players without putting pressure on them, a contrast to traditional Taiwanese coaching.
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- 📰 Published: April 19, 2026 at 15:58
- 🔍 Collected: April 19, 2026 at 16:31 (33 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 17:49 (1h 18m after Collected)
(Central News Agency, reporter Su Chih-yu, Taipei 19th) The Wei Chuan Dragons have the lowest pitching ERA among the 6 CPBL teams so far this season. Manager Yeh Chun-chang pointed out the help from new pitching coach Jaime Navarro. He uses a relaxed way to give players a sense of trust, which is very different from Taiwan's "spare the rod, spoil the child" model.
Jaime Navarro, who previously served as the pitching coach for the Uni-President 7-ELEVEn Lions, moved to the Wei Chuan Dragons this year. He is mainly in charge of the dispatch of first-team pitchers. In the Dragons' 14 games so far this season, the team's ERA is only 2.01, while the second-place TSG Hawks is 2.87.
What kind of magic has Navarro performed? Yeh Chun-chang said that he has a high degree of grasp on the players. "He can guide them in a good direction, and in a pressure-free way, like he hasn't said anything, but he has said everything. He also gives players opportunities and completely trusts them."
Yeh Chun-chang also frankly admitted that Taiwan's past guidance models tended to be "hating iron for not becoming steel" (spare the rod, spoil the child), and players might feel more pressure. "In our environment, failure is simply not allowed." He often hears the outside world asking, "Why this person? Why use him?" But if a player is not used as soon as he fails, soon there will be no one left to use.
He gave an example. Yesterday, when Chen Chun-hsiu of the CTBC Brothers was picked off at second base, people began to ask "What is he doing?" and "Why make this kind of mistake?"; actually, this is what makes baseball fun to watch. Players must make decisions between being aggressive and conservative. "The problem is, if they don't want to be picked off, should the players just stay on the bases forever?"
Yeh Chun-chang also pointed out that for current pitching rotations, he simply trusts Navarro. Even if pressure arises later due to pitching dispatch, "I also hope not to throw this pressure onto him, let him do what he wants to do. I think this is my responsibility." (Editor: Wu Su-jou) 1150419
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Jaime Navarro, who previously served as the pitching coach for the Uni-President 7-ELEVEn Lions, moved to the Wei Chuan Dragons this year. He is mainly in charge of the dispatch of first-team pitchers. In the Dragons' 14 games so far this season, the team's ERA is only 2.01, while the second-place TSG Hawks is 2.87.
What kind of magic has Navarro performed? Yeh Chun-chang said that he has a high degree of grasp on the players. "He can guide them in a good direction, and in a pressure-free way, like he hasn't said anything, but he has said everything. He also gives players opportunities and completely trusts them."
Yeh Chun-chang also frankly admitted that Taiwan's past guidance models tended to be "hating iron for not becoming steel" (spare the rod, spoil the child), and players might feel more pressure. "In our environment, failure is simply not allowed." He often hears the outside world asking, "Why this person? Why use him?" But if a player is not used as soon as he fails, soon there will be no one left to use.
He gave an example. Yesterday, when Chen Chun-hsiu of the CTBC Brothers was picked off at second base, people began to ask "What is he doing?" and "Why make this kind of mistake?"; actually, this is what makes baseball fun to watch. Players must make decisions between being aggressive and conservative. "The problem is, if they don't want to be picked off, should the players just stay on the bases forever?"
Yeh Chun-chang also pointed out that for current pitching rotations, he simply trusts Navarro. Even if pressure arises later due to pitching dispatch, "I also hope not to throw this pressure onto him, let him do what he wants to do. I think this is my responsibility." (Editor: Wu Su-jou) 1150419
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The text, pictures, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.