Taiwanese LHP Wei-Yin Chen Signs with Long Island Ducks

Wei-Yin Chen pitching for the Marlins in 2019. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League signed Taiwanese left-handed pitcher Wei-Yin Chen on April 2 for the 2024 regular season.

🚨 PLAYER SIGNING! 🚨

We have signed eight-year @MLB veteran Wei-Yin Chen! The southpaw pitched four seasons apiece with the @Orioles and @Marlins and was named to the @BaseballAmerica Major League All-Rookie Team in 2012.

📰: https://t.co/XhqP140qzN pic.twitter.com/lu9TNbtxWi

— Long Island Ducks (@LIDucks) April 2, 2024

Chen, 38, was born in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, and played eight seasons in Major League Baseball, with the Baltimore Orioles from 2012-15 and the Miami Marlins from 2017-19. 

Chen has also played in seven seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons in 2005 and from 2008-11, the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2020, and the Hanshin Tigers from 2021-22. 

Chen was a free agent for 2023 and was not signed with a professional organization. 

In the 2022 season in the minor leagues with the Tigers, Chen appeared in seven games and posted a 2-1 record with a 3.03 ERA throwing 29.2 innings allowing 36 hits, 10 earned runs, one home run, five walks, 16 strikeouts, and a 1.382 WHIP prior to him being released on June 29, 2022.

During the 2021 regular season, Chen split his time between the farm team and the Tigers. Chen posted a 2-2 record with the farm team and a 1.76 ERA playing in six games throwing 30.2 innings allowing 26 hits, six earned runs, two walks, 21 strikeouts and a 0.913 WHIP. 

With the Tigers, he posted a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA, throwing 9.1 innings in two appearances allowing 10 hits, four earned runs, three walks, and seven strikeouts. 

In his seven seasons in NPB, Chen has a lifetime record of 42-36 with a 2.56 ERA in 133 appearances and 89 starts with 14 complete games, eight shutouts, and one save. He threw 686 innings allowing 579 hits, 198 earned runs, 54 home runs, 166 walks, 541 strikeouts, and a 1.806 WHIP. 

During Chen’s eight seasons in MLB, he posted a 59-51 record with a 4.18 ERA in 219 appearances and 170 starts, throwing 1,064.2 innings, allowing 1,090 hits, 495 earned runs, 156 home runs, 270 walks, 846 strikeouts, and a 1.393 WHIP. 

The Long Island Ducks will play their first game of the 2024 regular season at home against the Lancaster Stormers on April 25 at 6:35 p.m. EST at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, N.Y.

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