Chen makes an early exit against struggling Reds
CINCINNATI — The saga of Wei-Yin Chen has been an unpleasant one for the Marlins, who invested big in the veteran lefty — a whopping $80 million — believing him to be a steady rotation fixture for years to come.
Chen has fallen far short of expectations, and Friday’s outing provided another reminder of a signing gone bad when he was tagged for back-toback home runs in the first inning and was done after four in the Marlins’ 4-1 loss to the Reds, the team with the worst record in the majors.
The Marlins were hoping for better, especially after Chen turned in an otherwise solid outing in his first start back from the disabled list, where he has spent a good chunk of his Marlins career while collecting all that money.
“His first outing was good,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Today, he looked a little bit off rhythm.”
In his second start since returning from the DL, Chen was once again unsteady, serving up a pair of home runs in the first and walking four batters overall in the loss. The Reds scored all four of their runs in the first and needed no more, as the offensive-challenged Marlins were held to a Lewis Brinson solo home run. They had the bases loaded with one out in the sixth, a chance to wipe out the deficit, but came up empty when Brian Anderson and Martin Prado were retired on fly balls.
Anderson’s liner likely would have fallen in for a hit in most ballparks. But the outfielders play shallow at Great American Ball Park, and Adam Duvall was there to make the catch.
“This is where this ballpark kind of hurts you, because he flips that ball into left and usually it’s a hit right there,” Mattingly said of Anderson’s line out. “You play a little more shallow here.”
For Chen, the first inning was his undoing. He gave up a leadoff double to Jose Peraza, followed by a walk to Alex Blandino. After he caught Joey Votto on a borderline pitch, he gave up a three-run shot to Eugenio Suarez, followed immediately by a solo homer by Duvall.
And that was it. Chen worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and left two aboard in the fourth before Mattingly decided he had seen enough and lifted him for a pinch-hitter.
“I wasn’t able to control the game as I wanted to,” Chen said through his translator. “My rhythm and timing weren’t perfect there, so there was a problem going on there. The life on my fastball wasn’t as good as usual.”
Chen, though, said his troublesome arm felt healthy and strong.
“My arm, my shoulder, I’ve been feeling pretty good,” he said. “That’s a good sign for me.”
Chen took one other positive out of an otherwise subpar outing: his clean fourth inning. “I think the main takeaway for me today was the last inning. I found the rhythm of my pitching,” he said.