Chia-Chu Chen

From BR Bullpen

Chia-Chu Chen (陳家駒)

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Chia-Chu Chen caught in the minor league and the CPBL. His cousin is CPBL outfielder Chen-Wei Chen.

Chen played for Taiwan in the 2005 World Youth Championship and the 2006 World Junior Championship. In late September 2007, he signed with the Boston Red Sox; Jon Deeble was the scout. He was the third Taiwanese catcher in the minors, edged out for the #2 slot by Chun-Hsiu Chen. Chao-Kuan Wu had been the first. That gave Boston five farmhands from Taiwan, most in Organized Baseball at that point.

The young catcher debuted as a pro in 2008, hitting .255/.333/.333 in 18 games for the GCL Red Sox while playing competent defense. He only hit .188/.239/.313 in 2009 for the A- Lowell Spinners, and slumped to .171/.200/.220 in 2010. The Red Sox released him after the 2010 season, and Chen came back to Taiwan. After playing amateur baseball for 3 years, Chen was selected by the CTBC Brothers in the 5th round of the 2013 CPBL Draft. He hit .201/.236/.366 in 2014. In the 2014 Taiwan Series, Chen hit .200/.273/.300 and the Brothers were beaten by the Lamigo Monkeys in 5 games.

Chen was named the starting catcher for the Brothers in 2015, and he hit .268/.318/.412 in 95 games. He won his first CPBL Gold Glove. He was only 2-for-17 in the 2015 Taiwan Series, and the Brothers were beaten by the Monkeys again, this time in 7 games. When star catcher Da-Hung Cheng joined the team, Chen played as his backup in 2016 and he hit .309/.369/.512 in 65 games. He was 0-for-3 in the 2016 Taiwan Series, and the Brothers lost to the EDA Rhinos in 6 games.

The Kaohsiung native slumped to .205/.258/.321 in 2017, and he spent the next two seasons primarily in the minors, only having 13 appearances in 2018. Chen came back in 2020 as his batting line was .298/.329/.379 in 63 games, and he won his second Gold Glove. In the 2020 Taiwan Series, Chen was 4-for-19 with a RBI, and the Brothers were beaten by the Uni-President Lions in 7 games. He hit .200/.289/.240 in 2021 and .200/.229/.200 in 2022 as a backup catcher. Due to injury, Chen only played 13 games with the big club in 2023.


Sources[edit]

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