Fernandez’s bat could go to good use
Chen hopes it will help him earn his first career base hit.
WASHINGTON — Wei -Yi n Chen is looking for his first Major League hit, and he hopes to find it in the bag of bats belonging to the Marlins’ pitchers. Before taking the mound here today, Chen plans on rummaging through the bag in search of one bat in particular: Jose Fernandez’s.
“Of all the people, he’s the one who was most eager wanting to see me get my first hit,” Chen said through his interpreter.
Chen holds the dubious distinction of being the worst hitter in Major League history. He’s never had a hit in 48 career big-league at bats.
Randy Tate, a pitcher from the 1970s, is next on the list: 0 for 41.
Chen has never drawn a walk or been hit by a pitch, either, giving him a career on-base percentage of .000.
For Chen to record his first hit with Fernandez’s bat would only be fitting.
The t wo were about as close as any two pitchers on the Marlins, forming their bond in spring training when Chen first joined the Marlins, a Taiwanese left-hander and a Cuban right-hander.
“Jose was a good friend to all of us,” said Marlins pitcher David Phelps. “But him and Chen, they spent more time together than with anyone else in the dugout.
“You’d see them in the dugout, arms around each other. Those two, they had a little bromance.”
Said Chen: “Jose’s actually the first Marlin I met when I came here, so we hit it off very quickly. It was him who introduced me to everybody else.”
T h e y we n t o u t t o e a t together. They talked pitching. And, once in a while, they talked about hitting.
Fernandez was a good hitter for a pitcher, with a couple of home runs and a career .213 batting average. His average this season: .250.
Chen, on the other hand, has been feeble at the plate.
Earlier this season in Milwaukee, it looked like his long dry spell had ended when he beat out what was first ruled an infield hit. But the play was later changed to an error, and Chen was left hitless.
“Of all the people, he’s the one who is the most eager wanting to see me getting the first hit,” Chen said. “When I couldn’t get a hit, when I got off the field, we would talk about the at-bat and sometimes he would encourage me.
“S o meti mes h e woul d mock me and say you suck. But he always encouraged me to get my first hit.”
C h e n s a i d Fe r n a n d e z always beat him, no matter what they were playing.
“All I can say is, he’s an a maz i n g a t h l e t e , ” C h e n said. “Whatever we played, whether it was basketball with the small basketball we have in the clubhouse, or Ping-Pong, I never beat him. He could do everything.”
Even though Fernandez was seven years the 31-yearold Chen’s junior, he was often the one offering pitching advice, trying to help his friend and teammate.
“This year, I’m having a rough year,” Chen said. “If it weren’t for him, I might have a worse year than I already have right now.
“Even though he’s younger than me, there was a lot I learned from him.”
Marlins 7, Nationals 4: Christian Yelich went 2 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs, and Justin Bour had three hits and two RBIs as Miami beat Washington in a game delayed by rain.
The Marlins’ Andrew Cashner allowed four runs in four innings before five relievers pitched five no-hit innings.