1977
Born June 19, 1977
Panama City, Panamá, Panama
Bruce Chen Marquee
b. June 19, 1977 · Atlanta Braves 1998–2000, Philadelphia Phillies 2000–2001, New York Mets 2001–2002, Montreal Expos 2002, Cincinnati Reds 2002, Houston Astros 2003, Boston Red Sox 2003, Baltimore Orioles 2004–2006, Texas Rangers 2007, Kansas City Royals 2009–2014, Cleveland Indians 2015
Atlanta signed him at sixteen out of Panama City and he was a top prospect at twenty-one. Then he was traded seven times in six years and pitched for eight clubs before he turned thirty, none of them for more than three seasons.
Kansas City signed him off a minor-league contract for 2009 and kept him for six years. He went 12-7 in 2010 and 12-8 in 2011 with a soft fastball and a changeup, and he was the club's opening-day starter in 2012, at thirty-four.
Seventeen seasons gave him 82 wins against 81, a 4.62 earned run average, 1,532 innings and 1,140 strikeouts. He pitched for Panama in three World Baseball Classics. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ATL | 4 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .143 |
| 1999 | ATL | 16 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 |
| 2000 | ATL/PHI | 37 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 0 | .033 |
| 2001 | NYM/PHI | 27 | 47 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | .128 |
| 2002 | CIN/MON/NYM | 55 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .333 |
| 2003 | BOS/HOU | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 2004 | BAL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2005 | BAL | 34 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| 2006 | BAL | 40 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2007 | TEX | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2009 | KCR | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2010 | KCR | 33 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2011 | KCR | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2012 | KCR | 35 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .200 |
| 2013 | KCR | 34 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| 2014 | KCR | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2015 | CLE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 401 | 125 | 5 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 58 | 0 | .152 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ATL | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 20.1 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 3.98 |
| 1999 | ATL | 2 | 2 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 51.0 | 38 | 31 | 27 | 45 | 5.47 |
| 2000 | ATL/PHI | 7 | 4 | 37 | 15 | 0 | 134.0 | 116 | 49 | 46 | 112 | 3.29 |
| 2001 | NYM/PHI | 7 | 7 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 146.0 | 146 | 79 | 59 | 126 | 4.87 |
| 2002 | CIN/MON/NYM | 2 | 5 | 55 | 6 | 0 | 77.2 | 85 | 48 | 43 | 80 | 5.56 |
| 2003 | BOS/HOU | 0 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 24.1 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 20 | 5.55 |
| 2004 | BAL | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 47.2 | 39 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 3.02 |
| 2005 | BAL | 13 | 10 | 34 | 32 | 0 | 197.1 | 187 | 84 | 63 | 133 | 3.83 |
| 2006 | BAL | 0 | 7 | 40 | 12 | 0 | 98.2 | 137 | 76 | 35 | 70 | 6.93 |
| 2007 | TEX | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7.20 |
| 2009 | KCR | 1 | 6 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 62.1 | 74 | 40 | 25 | 45 | 5.78 |
| 2010 | KCR | 12 | 7 | 33 | 23 | 1 | 140.1 | 136 | 65 | 57 | 98 | 4.17 |
| 2011 | KCR | 12 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 155.0 | 152 | 65 | 50 | 97 | 3.77 |
| 2012 | KCR | 11 | 14 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 191.2 | 215 | 108 | 47 | 140 | 5.07 |
| 2013 | KCR | 9 | 4 | 34 | 15 | 0 | 121.0 | 107 | 44 | 36 | 78 | 3.27 |
| 2014 | KCR | 2 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 48.1 | 69 | 40 | 16 | 36 | 7.45 |
| 2015 | CLE | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.1 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 12.79 |
| Career | — | 82 | 81 | 400 | 227 | 1 | 1532.0 | 1578 | 786 | 546 | 1140 | 4.62 |
On this day & linked events
1998
Major-league debut: Bruce Chen
Bruce Chen made a major-league debut on September 7, 1998.
2015
Final major-league game: Bruce Chen
Bruce Chen played a final major-league game on May 15, 2015.