Bruce Chen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Bruce Chen**
Major League Baseball debut
Free Agent — No. 27
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Both	Throws: Left
September 7, 1999 for the Atlanta Braves
Selected MLB statistics (through August 31, 2006)
Record	35-37
ERA	4.55
Strikeouts	632
Teams
Atlanta Braves (1998-2000) Philadelphia Phillies (2000-2001) New York Mets (2001-2002) Montreal Expos (2002) Cincinnati Reds (2002) Boston Red Sox (2003) Houston Astros (2003) Baltimore Orioles (2004-present)

Bruce Kastulo Chen (born June 19, 1977 in Panama City, Panama) (Traditional Chinese: 陳用彩, pinyin: Chén Yòngcaǐ) is a pitcher who most recently played for the Baltimore Orioles and is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves. He attended Institute of Panama and studied mechanical engineering during the baseball off-season at Georgia Tech.

He is, along with the Chinese Mexicans, among the little known number of ethnic Chinese in Latin America. His paternal grandfather, Kuen Chin Chan Lee, joined his brothers and other relatives in Panama when he was 9. Bruce's maternal grandmother, Kuen Yin Liu de Laffo, was actually born in Panama but her family had to return to China after fire destroyed their home. After years of hard labor, she was able to return to Panama at age 24. Both of Bruce's grandparents have died, but he hopes to reconnect with his Chinese roots someday. [1]

Chen has found it difficult to shed the "journeyman" label - a label supported by the number of organizations he has been through. Though he was once a top prospect for the Atlanta Braves system, his inability to maintain a level of consistency at the Major League level has made it difficult for him to stick. One might trace this inconsistency to his penchant for giving up home runs (93 in 528 1/3 innings pitched as of today.)

He appears, however, to have turned the corner playing for the Baltimore Orioles. He has added a changeup to his repertoire of pitches, which includes an 87-90 mph fastball, and a slow 12-6 curveball. Though it is too early to tell whether he will maintain this level of success, his 11 starts for the Orioles, from the end of 2004 through today, indicate that he is well on his way to fulfilling the enormous potential that made him such a highly regarded prospect earlier in his career. His career stats are a win-loss record of 35-30 with an ERA of 4.27.

Chen pitched for Panama in the Inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, working five innings, giving up four hits, two runs(both earned), and a walk with three strikeouts against a powerful Cuba team in the opening round of the tournament at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

During his time playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chen had a loyal group of fans known as "Chen's Pen."