The baseball world had all but forgotten Chien-Ming Wang, casting him off into the minor leagues after he struggled to come back from injuries early in his career. Now in spring training with Kansas City, he is turning heads with his rediscovered 95-mph velocity.

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According to Sports Illustrated, the 35-year-old sinker-baller has not thrown this hard since he had shoulder surgery in 2009. Fan Graphs' Jeff Sullivan notes that even Wang has admitted that he was throwing less than 89 mph just last year. So why the sudden resurgence?

The answer is Ron Wolforth, a pitching coach who runs a baseball clinic called Texas Baseball Ranch. Wolforth helps players maximize their velocity by using science to fine-tune their pitching mechanics.

Wolforth has worked with many MLB pitchers including the Dodgers' Scott Kazmir and the Angels' C.J. Wilson. Wang is the latest addition to Wolforth's resume.

The Texas Baseball Ranch tweeted in early February, "Coach Wolforth spent last week with professional pitcher Chien-Ming Wang who is looking to make a comeback with the Royals. Good luck Chien-Ming!"

Wang is going to need some luck to make the opening-day roster as the Royals only have one or two bullpen spots left, and could send him down to the minors to start the season.

He has a 1.50 ERA with 5 strikeouts in 6 innings of work. That does not sound like much - and yes, it is only spring training - but it is monumental progress for a Wang, who pitched to a 5.88 ERA and only struck out 51 in 130 innings at the triple-A level last year.

"I've been up there before," said Wang optimistically, "and it's not time to give up [the dream] yet. I still think it can happen."

Royals manager Ned Yost agrees with Wang. He revealed that "so far he [Wang] has been very impressive."

The Royals next game is on Wednesday against Cleveland.