Bruce Chen: Early 2000's Mets Pitcher (2001 - 2002)
The six foot two left hander was originally signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1993 making it to the big leagues five years later.
In 1998 he was a 12-game winner at A ball Macon, getting promoted to AA the next season. In 1999 he was 15-8 with a 3.09 ERA at AA Greenville & AAA Richmond.
MLB Career: On September 7th, 1998, Bruce debuted with Atlanta pitching against the Mets &
Masato Yosi in a Mets win at Shea Stadium. Chen gave up HRs to Luis Lopez & Tony Phillips. He won his next two starts & finished the year 2-0. Chen stayed with the Braves for parts of three seasons as a starter & reliever.
In the 2000 season he began at 4-0 before getting traded to the Philadelphia Phillies that June. In Philadelphia he fell to 3-4 & the next season was traded to the New York Mets for Turk Wendell & Dennis Cook. Two good middle relievers who were key to the Mets in getting to the post season the previous two seasons.
Mets Debut: On August 1st, Chen made his Mets debut with a start in Houston, allowing just two runs over six innings, earning no decision. In his second start on August 7th, he got his first Met victory, pitching seven shutout innings over the Brewers at Shea, allowing two hits, striking out seven.
On August 12th, he gave up four runs to the Cardinals, including HRs to Mark McGwire & Albert Pujols taking his first Mets loss.
At the end of August, he Chen won back-to-back starts on a Shea home stand. On August 7th, he allowed just one run over seven innings to the Giants, allowing just three hits. On August 29th, he got hit hard for two more HRs & five runs by the Phillies he still earned the win as the Mets scored seven runs for him.
Post 911 Game: On September 21st, ten days after the 911 attacks, baseball made its return to New York as the Mets took on the Braves. Chen pitched a scoreless 6th inning of relief. The game was highlighted by Mike Piazza's 8th inning HR coming from behind to put the Mets ahead of the rival Braves with the game winning run.
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Since coming to New York Chen finished the season at 3-2 with a 4.68 ERA allowing ten HRs with 47 strike outs in 59 innings of work in eleven games. That season the Mets fell to a disappointing third place, even a late season resurgence wasn't enough to make the playoffs.
2002: After pitching just one game for the Mets (0.2 innings) Chen was traded to the Montreal Expos along with Dicky Gonzalez, for Scott Strickland, Phil Seibel, and Matt Watson.
Post Mets Career: Chen became a journeyman pitcher, moving on to the Cincinnati Reds (2002) Houston Astros (2003), Boston Red Sox (2003) Texas Rangers (2007) Baltimore Orioles (2004-2006) & Kansas City Royals (2009-2012).
In Baltimore with the Orioles Chen had his best season in 2005 going 13-10 posting a 3.83 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 197 innings pitched, all career highs.
After pitching for Panama in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he fell to a disappointing 0-7 season with the Orioles. Chen’s biggest problem was giving the long balls; he is 191st all time in serving up HRs with 207.
In 2010 the journey man pitcher had a decent season in Kansas City going 12-7 with one save & a 4.17 ERA. He posted back-to-back 12-win seasons (2010 & 2011) with the Royals & went on to lead the club in wins three straight seasons.
In 2012 he went 11-14 leading the league in starts with 34. He struck out 140 batters & walked just 47 in 191 innings pitched with a 5.07 ERA.
In 1998 he was a 12-game winner at A ball Macon, getting promoted to AA the next season. In 1999 he was 15-8 with a 3.09 ERA at AA Greenville & AAA Richmond.
Masato Yosi in a Mets win at Shea Stadium. Chen gave up HRs to Luis Lopez & Tony Phillips. He won his next two starts & finished the year 2-0. Chen stayed with the Braves for parts of three seasons as a starter & reliever.
In the 2000 season he began at 4-0 before getting traded to the Philadelphia Phillies that June. In Philadelphia he fell to 3-4 & the next season was traded to the New York Mets for Turk Wendell & Dennis Cook. Two good middle relievers who were key to the Mets in getting to the post season the previous two seasons.
Mets Debut: On August 1st, Chen made his Mets debut with a start in Houston, allowing just two runs over six innings, earning no decision. In his second start on August 7th, he got his first Met victory, pitching seven shutout innings over the Brewers at Shea, allowing two hits, striking out seven.
At the end of August, he Chen won back-to-back starts on a Shea home stand. On August 7th, he allowed just one run over seven innings to the Giants, allowing just three hits. On August 29th, he got hit hard for two more HRs & five runs by the Phillies he still earned the win as the Mets scored seven runs for him.
On September 3rd, Chen gave up a season high six runs, although four of them were earned as he got no decision in the eventual Mets win at Philadelphia. On September 8th in Florida, he gave up three runs taking no decision in a 9-7 Mets win.
Post 911 Game: On September 21st, ten days after the 911 attacks, baseball made its return to New York as the Mets took on the Braves. Chen pitched a scoreless 6th inning of relief. The game was highlighted by Mike Piazza's 8th inning HR coming from behind to put the Mets ahead of the rival Braves with the game winning run.
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2002: After pitching just one game for the Mets (0.2 innings) Chen was traded to the Montreal Expos along with Dicky Gonzalez, for Scott Strickland, Phil Seibel, and Matt Watson.
Post Mets Career: Chen became a journeyman pitcher, moving on to the Cincinnati Reds (2002) Houston Astros (2003), Boston Red Sox (2003) Texas Rangers (2007) Baltimore Orioles (2004-2006) & Kansas City Royals (2009-2012).
In Baltimore with the Orioles Chen had his best season in 2005 going 13-10 posting a 3.83 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 197 innings pitched, all career highs.
In 2005 & 2006 he allowed 61 HRs and was in the top ten in the HRs allowed category both seasons.
Chen found a new home in Kansas City pitching there now for five seasons through May 2013.
In 2012 he went 11-14 leading the league in starts with 34. He struck out 140 batters & walked just 47 in 191 innings pitched with a 5.07 ERA.
In 2013 Chen was tied for third on the Royals staff with nine wins (9-4) He started 15 games but appeared in 34, posting a 2.27 ERA, he struck out 78 batters in 121 innings with 36 walks.
In 2014 at age 36, in his sixth year with the Royals, Chen he made four starts in April he was 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA getting demoted to AAA Omaha at the end of April. He returned with the Cleveland Indians in 2015 making two appearances.
In his 17-year career Chen was 82-81 with one save, 1140 strike outs & 546 walks in 1532 innings pitched in 400 career games posting a 4.62 ERA.
Retirement: Bruce has worked as the Dodgers Latin American Infield coordinator.
Family: Bruce & his wife Mary have three daughters.
College: Bruce studied Civil Engineering at Georgia Tech.