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Chinese League Baseball nearly saw back-to-back blank Hall of Fame ballots, as the best debut in 2031 was CF Zhenfeng Liu at 44.3%. SP Rouzi Dilyar narrowly found his way in with 67.0% on his third ballot, barely crossing the 66% requirement. 1B Xugang Zheng came close to joining him with a 63.7% fourth ballot. 1B Bozhao Zhu was the only other guy above 50%, receiving 55.7% for his second attempt.



SP Changwei Yang was dropped after ten failed ballots, peaking at 23.0% in 2023 and ending at 9.7%. He won Pitcher of the Year and an ERA title in 2012 for Xi’an, helping the Attack win the 2015 China Series. His totals were hurt by leaving for CABA in 2017 at age 32 and later major injuries.

In 11 years for Xi’an, Yang had a 111-66 record, 1.83 ERA, 1783.1 innings, 2022 strikeouts, 361 walks, 133 ERA+, 62 FIP-, and 53.0 WAR. The pace was certainly there, but Yang fell short of the tenure required to cross the line. His tenure was actually comparable to 2031’s inductee Dilyar, but the latter’s higher strikeout and inning totals won the day.



Rouzi Dilyar – Pitcher – Urumqi Unicorns – 67.0% Third Ballot

Rouzi Dilyar was a 6’6’’, 190 pound left-handed pitcher from Shenyang, the largest city in Northeast China by urban population with just over nine million inhabitants. At his peak, Dilyar had solid stuff with very good movement and reliable control. His fastball peaked in the 97-99 mph range, although his similarly fast cutter was his strongest pitch. Dilyar’s cutter led to an extreme groundball tendency. He also had a nice splitter and okay slider as options.

Dilyar’s stamina was good for most of his career, although injuries limited him at points, especially in his 30s. His pickoff move was considered top tier and he was one of the better defensive pitchers of his era. Dilyar also had an impressive work ethic that helped him push through injuries and setbacks over his career.

Coming out of college, Dilyar was widely viewed as the top pitching prospect in China. Urumqi picked him first overall in the 2012 CLB Draft and he’d spend his entire Chinese career there. The Unicorns were still a newer franchise at that point, one of six teams that joined in the 2009 expansion. Dilyar was a full-time starter right away and held that role for 11 seasons for Urumqi.

Dilyar was considered elite by his third year, which had his career gests for ERA (1.44), and WAR (8.6); finishing second in Pitcher of the Year voting. He was second again in 2016 with a 1.57 ERA and career best 295 strikeouts. Dilyar won his lone ERA title with 1.46 in 2018, again finishing second in POTY voting. He never won the top award and wasn’t a league leader apart from the ERA title. Still, he got noticed as a great pitcher despite being with a new franchise that was geographically isolated from the rest of the league.

Urumqi earned its first playoff berth in 2017 as a wild card, but fell in the round robin. Dilyar’s playoff debut was excellent, allowing one run over 17 innings with 28 strikeouts. That winter, they signed Dilyar to a six-year, $56,500,000 extension. He also had strong numbers pitching for China from 2017-23 in the World Baseball Championship with a 1.50 ERA over 48 innings, 68 strikeouts, 241 ERA+, and 1.7 WAR.

The Unicorns missed the cut narrowly in 2018, then had 80, 65, and 80 wins the next three years. They got the final wild card in 2022 at 88-74 and went on a surprise run all the way to the China Series, falling to Hong Kong in the finale. Dilyar was again excellent in the playoffs with a 0.99 ERA over 27.1 innings with 31 strikeouts and five walks. Urumqi would fall four wins short of the playoffs the next year.

Disaster struck at the end of the 2023 season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament suffered on September 17. This marked an abrupt end to Dilyar’s CLB career and some feared the end of his pro baseball career. He was set to leave for free agency that winter at age 34. There was some thought that Dilyar might eventually come to terms with Urumqi, but any thoughts of a long-term deal ended with the injury.

Dilyar rehabbed hard, but was expected to miss all of the 2024 season. Major League Baseball’s San Diego Seals gave him a look in June 2024 on a two-year, $18,200,000 deal. Dilyar was unable to make it back by the end of the season and the Seals voided the team option second year, meaning he never pitched for them. MLB teams still had some cautious interest and Dilyar signed that winter with Ottawa for one year and $8,200,000.

With the Elks, Dilyar saw 35 innings of mostly relief and looked respectable, but he was let go in early June to make roster room. He spent the rest of the year off-and-on with Los Angeles, who cut and signed him multiple times with some minor league stints. Dilyar ultimately struggled in four starts for the Angels in 2025 with a 5.81 ERA over 26.1 innings.

Dilyar wasn’t done in MLB yet as Denver gave him a look in 2026, but he had a lousy 5.35 ERA over 37 innings and was released in May. He found a new home in Algeria by the end of the month with the Arab League’s Algiers Arsenal. Dilyar just wasn’t the same following the UCL tear and stunk in 47 relief innings for Algiers with a 6.32 ERA. To make things worse, he suffered another UCL tear in August 2026 with a 16 month recovery time.

Because of his intense work ethic, Dilyar was determined to make it back to professional baseball. He very briefly was signed with AAB’s Kinshasa in late 2027 and MLB’s Raleigh in early 2028, but never pitched for either. Dilyar did make it back to MLB in 2028 with Jacksonville with a 5.68 ERA over 12.2 innings. He finally retired that winter at age 39, having a 4.70 ERA over 111 innings with 83 strikeouts and 1.6 WAR over his MLB stints.

Dilyar was still well known and appreciated in Urumqi. His #28 uniform was the first number retired by the franchise and he was the first Hall of Famer to wear Unicorns blue and white. In CLB, Dilyar finished with a 132-108 record, 1.93 ERA, 2439.2 innings, 2718 strikeouts, 447 walks, 230/288 quality starts, 115 complete games, 38 shutouts, 135 ERA+ 69 FIP-, and 65.7 WAR.
As of 2037, Dilyar ranks 77^th in wins, 45^th in innings, 37^th in complete games, 19^th in shutouts, 36^th in strikeouts, and 32^nd in WAR among pitchers. His .535 opponent’s OPS is 66^th among pitchers with 1000+ innings and his ERA ranks 40^th. By the rate stats, Dilyar certainly fits in nicely with other pitchers inducted into Chinese League Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

However, the relatively short career led to lower accumulations than some voters wanted. Dilyar also had limited black ink and no Pitcher of the Year win (although he came very close). Thus, he missed the cut at 57.8% and 59.6% in his first two ballots.

Supporters noted his excellent playoff stats and role in Urumqi’s first pennant. Being the first superstar for a new franchise certainly helps if the raw totals are a bit light. A weak 2031 ballot also made Dilyar’s resume stand out a bit more than some other years. At 67.0%, he squeaked past the 66% requirement as CLB’s lone 2031 inductee on his third ballot.