Liu Kai (baseball)

Liu Kai (simplified Chinese: 刘恺; traditional Chinese: 劉愷; pinyin: Líu Kǎi; born 11 October 1987 in Tianjin, China^[1]) is a left-handed pitcher, formerly of the New York Yankees organization. Liu was later released by the New York Yankees minor league system, along with his Chinese teammate Zhang Zhenwang.^{[citation needed]}

Liu began playing organized baseball at the age of 12, when he was enrolled in a sports school in China. At age 16, he became a professional baseball player when he began playing for the Guangdong Leopards of the China Baseball League. He has also participated as a member of the People's Republic of China National Team.^[2]

Liu's best pitch is his fastball, topping out at 84 miles per hour.^[3]

On June 18, 2007, became the first baseball player born in the People's Republic of China to sign a Major League Baseball contract with the prior permission of the China Baseball Association, along with Zhang Zhenwang, who also signed with the Yankees.^[4] The first baseball player born in the People's Republic of China to sign with a Major League Baseball club was pitcher Wang Chao, who signed with the Seattle Mariners on August 9, 2001.

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