Reliving The 17-Game Hitting Streak By Tsung-Che Cheng

After a rough start to his time in Double-A, Tsung-Che Cheng rattled off 17-straight games with a hit with the Altoona Curve

Photo Credit: Cody Potanko

Looking back to the 2022 season, it would be an easy argument to make that Tsung-Che Cheng was the best pure leadoff hitter in the Pirates system.

A great approach at the plate, Cheng finished one behind the Pirates minor league leader in walks and was number one in stolen bases.

The only question was going to be how much power he would hit for as he moved up the ladder. He would get the added boost from Greensboro, which is well known as a hitter friendly park.

Cheng was actually the opposite, posting an OPS over 1.000 on the road, compared to ‘just’ an .876 in Greensboro.

His stock rose quickly, jumping onto the Pirates Top 30 prospect list on both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, due to his impressive hit tool, speed and the flashes of power he showed early on.

After getting promoted to Altoona, Cheng eventually played his first game on June 23 against the Bowie Baysox.

The power, or lack of, got exposed a bit at first, with Cheng really struggled to start his time in Double-A. He slashed .224/.259/.250 in his first 19 games with the Curve, managing just one extra-base hit and a 22% strikeout rate.

Then everything clicked for the infielder, and reached base safely over the next 17 games.

During that span, Cheng slashed .393/.415/.574, dropped his strikeouts down to a 13.6% rate and picked up seven extra-base hits as well (two home runs, five doubles).

Offensively speaking, Cheng has been one of the better players in the Pirates system this year, even with the really slow start in Altoona. If there is still one concern, outside of the power, is that the walks really bottomed out once he hit Double-A.

Finding extra ways to get on base is going to crucial to his game if there isn’t going to be much power involved. With his speed, he can still turn a single into a double with a ball into the gap, but his line drive rate has also been cut in half since being promoted.

It was a great run, an opportunity to truly show off his hitting tool and what he’s capable of. The Pirates are going to have a lot of hitting prospects graduate this season, which could leave Cheng as one of the best remaining in the system.