Yun-Wen Chen

Yun-Wen Chen (陳韻文)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 214 lb.

• High School Pingtung High School

• Born November 28, 1995 in Pingtung County Taiwan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yun-Wen Chen has pitched in the Chinese Professional Baseball League and Chinese Taipei national baseball team.

Chen allowed 7 hits and 6 runs (2 earned) in 3 innings in the 2013 World Junior Championship, fanning four; he combined on a shutout of the Czech Republic but struggled in his other outing, against Mexico. He was picked by the Uni-President Lions in the second round of the June 2014 CPBL Draft, one round after they took Chun-Hsiu Chen. He made his debut in the 2015 CPBL, going 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA. In 2016, he was 5-7 with six saves but a 7.76 ERA.

Despite his high ERA in 2016, he made the Taiwanese national team designated pitcher pool for the 2017 World Baseball Classic and they activated him for round one, but he didn't played any games. The Pingtung native broke out in 2017, as he notched 11 saves and 11 holds with a 3.60 ERA. He secured the closer spot of the Lions, and never gave out anymore. He collected 19 saves in 2018, and was selected into the All-Star Game three years in a row. The young closer led the league in saves for the first time in his career in 2019, when he got 24 saves in 29 chances. Chen improved in 2020, lowered his ERA to 2.09, and led the league in saves for the second straight year with 24. He allowed a run in an inning in 2020 Taiwan Series Game 1, then he allowed a solo shot to Chi-Hung Hsu in Game 3. The Lions still beat the CTBC Brothers to win the title in 7 games.

2021 was Chen's career year, as he notched 32 saves with an incredible 1.53 ERA, and became the fifth player to enter the 30-saves club. He also broke the team record of most saves in a single season. He was the fourth, and the youngest player to reach 100 career saves, and led the league in saves for the third year in a row. He pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings in the 2021 Taiwan Series, but the Lions were swept by the Elephants. Chen's condition was not good at the start of 2022, and Keury Mella briefly took the closer spot for a month. Chen came back and still recorded 13 saves with a 2.49 ERA. He was the first player to got a automatic ball because of the violation of a new pitch time rule in that year. In April 5, 2023, Chen notched his 130th save, which broke the record held by Yueh-Ping Lin, and became the all-time saves leader in CPBL. He notched 16 saves with a 1.62 ERA in 34 appearances in 2023, and he ranked 4th in saves, 6 behind Yen-Ching Lu.

His repertoire includes a fastball (peak 96.3 mph), sinker, changeup and forkball.

Sources

• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• CPBL player page
• 2013 World Junior Championship
• World Baseball Classic