Coming Soon... Chin-hui Tsao

The Rockies, who have one of the most promising young pitching
staffs in baseball with 25-year-old righthanders Jason Jennings,
the 2002 NL Rookie of the Year, and Shawn Chacon, an All-Star
this year, are about to get another young arm. Tsao is expected
to be called up from Double A Tulsa imminently, which would make
him the first Taiwanese pitcher to reach the majors. In his first
full season since having Tommy John surgery in 2001, at week's
end the 22-year-old righthander led the Texas League in
strikeouts (125 in 113 1/3 innings) and ranked second in ERA
(2.46).

Tsao has recently added a two-seam, sinking fastball to his
arsenal. He changes speeds effectively and has excellent control,
averaging 2.1 walks per nine innings. "Tsao is a big league
pitcher," says Colorado general manager Dan O'Dowd. "There's
little question about that."

COLOR PHOTO: LENNY IGNELZI/AP (TSAO)