CPBL: Hung-Yu Lin powers Monkeys to first Taiwan Series title in the Rakuten era

Rakuten Monkeys became the second team in CPBL history to win the Taiwan Series as a non-half-season winner as they defeated the CTBC Brothers, the team with the most wins in the 2025 season, 4-1, to collect their first title since Rakuten took over the storied franchise in 2020.

The 2025 Rakuten Monkeys entered the postseason as an underdog before they surprised everyone by defeating the first-half title winner Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions with a 0-1 disadvantage and stunned the defending champions CTBC Brothers to clinch the Taiwan Series title in just five games.

“It’s like a dream come true!” said Monkey's manager Kenji Furukubo.

This year’s Taiwan Series faced unprecedented weather challenges. While the first three games were played at Taipei Dome despite the inclement weather, the continuous heavy rain pushed Game Four and the remainder of the schedule by as many as four days, causing scheduling disruption.

Monkeys took an early lead and clinched with a persevering style

The Monkeys started the Taiwan Series with a surprising lead. They defeated the Brothers two games in a row, 3-0 and 2-1, before the Brothers fought back in Game Three, 2-0, for the Monkeys to enjoy a 2-1 record before the games headed back to the Monkeys’ homefield in Taoyuan Rakuten Baseball Stadium.

The Series, heavily affected by the weather, resumed four days after Game Three and saw another low-scoring game as the Monkeys defeated the Brothers, 3-1, to take an important 3-1 series lead.

With Game Five returning to the Brothers’ homefield in Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, the Brothers sent Brandon Leibrandt (7-3, 1.94) to the mound to face Marcelo Martinez (13-8, 2.51) of the Monkeys in the hope of pushing the Series to Game Six and beyond.

Although the Monkeys scored one run in the first inning, the Brothers then quickly took the lead and knocked Martinez out of the game after he gave up six runs (one earned only) with the Monkeys committing three errors in the process.

With a 7-4 lead at the end of the seventh inning, the Brothers saw the Monkeys tie the score with a solo home run from Chia-Jung Liang before the Monkeys successfully executed a bases-loaded scenario to score the tying runs and subsequently push the game to extra innings.

On the top of the eleventh, Hung-Yu Lin, who had been on base four times with three hits and a walk on the night, launched a two-run home run to deep left field with one out and one on, giving the Monkeys a 9-7 lead, and ultimately sent the Monkeys to their first title since 2019, and the first after Rakuten took over the ownership in 2020.

In 2019, Lamigo Monkeys also defeated the CTBC Brothers in five games.

A Record Setting Series

This year’s Taiwan Series saw dominant pitching performances from both teams in the first four games, as they combined to score only 12 runs and set a new low-scoring record. The previous lowest-scoring series was the 2010 Taiwan Series, as the Brother Elephants and Sinon Bulls managed to cross the plate only 19 times in the first four games.

However, the Taiwan Series also set a new attendance record, with three of the five games played at the 40,000-seat Taipei Dome, for a total of 153,395 fans, surpassing last year’s Taiwan Series record of 132,625.

Monkeys reliever Cheng-Yang Chu also set the new Taiwan Series record as he collected four saves in the Series.

A Persevering Squad of the Monkeys

Rakuten Monkeys manager Kenji Furukubo said after clinching the series: “I want to give all the credit to our players for their perseverance. We wouldn’t be here (celebrating) if it weren’t for them.”

Furukubo came to Taiwan in 2019 as the catching coach of the Fubon Guardians. He then joined the Rakuten Monkeys coaching staff in 2022 before being named manager after the end of the 2023 season.

Nicknamed “A-Gon (grandfather in Taiwanese)” by his players, 61-year-old Furukubo stated that he had addressed the players before the start of the postseason saying: “We started the season with four straight losses. We played .500 ball in the first half and made the postseason with the third-best overall record. All these are the results of devotion from all of you players."

“It’s like a dream come true, and of course Lin’s homerun was the key,” said Furukubo.

Hung-Yu Lin powered the Monkeys through thick and thin

Lin, who broke into the league in 2010 as a Lamigo Monkey, is currently the second most senior player on the Monkeys' roster (next to Chih-Ping Lin) following his 16th season with the franchise, and has been one of the most dominant and recognised power sluggers in the league for his generation.

The 39-year-old gave up the opportunity to file for Free Agency at the end of the 2024 season “in hoping to contribute more to the club,” and voluntarily took a 30% pay cut to remain with the Monkeys.

“I want to be with the Monkeys, even if that means I have to take the pay cut, because I really want to stay here,” said Lin, who was paid NTD 10.8m (US$350,000) in 2024 before signing the extension with the Monkeys. According to the report, it took him just five minutes to complete the conversation, “without negotiations, and without an agent.”

The Monkeys lost their sluggers, Chiu-Hsiu Chen and Yu-Hsien Chu, to Free Agency in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and Lin has stepped up to take the lead on and off the field again.

“As long as I am capable of, I want to help my teammates to reach the best possible goal,” Lin said. “It has been a tough road leading up to now. We all have experienced slumps, injuries, and struggles. Still, we played as champions and faced the challenges together, moving forward in the same direction, and we never forgot to pick up our teammates when needed.

“We came from nothing as an underdog to clinching the title now because we never give up, and that’s extremely meaningful for all of us,” Lin added.

Pedro Fernandez named Series MVP

Monkeys’ starter Pedro Fernandez (15-2, 2.01) continued his dominant performance at the end of the season as he was named MVP of September/October (5-0, 0.26). During the Taiwan Series, Fernandez went 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings while fanning 15 and was named Series MVP.

Fernandez appeared in the Taiwan Series 2023 and was 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA when the Monkeys lost to the Dragons in seven games.

Chin Cheng of the Monkeys and Jesús Vargas of the Brothers were named Outstanding Players of the Series.

Cheng went 10 for 18 (.556) in the Series and set a record for six straight at-bats with a base hit in the Taiwan Series. A late addition to the Brothers lineup, Vargas, appeared in only three games during the season, but he became a dominant secret weapon against the Monkeys. Vargas threw 6.2 scoreless innings in Game Three for the Brothers’ first win in the series, and relieved in Game Five for four innings while giving up only one run.

The Monkeys are scheduled to host the championship parade in Taoyuan City on Sunday.