The Miami Marlins were smoked by the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, losing 14-0. Unfortunately for Marlins reliever Wei-Yin Chen, a good portion of the damage came against him.
Chen went two innings in relief of Jose Urena. And while it’s only April, saying than Chen took one for the team on Tuesday would be the understatement of the year.
Clearly Miami was in the mood to preserve its bullpen on Tuesday. If nothing else, that worked. As bad as the game was, only three pitchers were needed.
As far as Chen goes, his ERA entering the game was 4.50. In one outing, it shot up to 24.75. That’s right, in two innings, Chen’s ERA rose by more than 20 points.
But let’s not feel too bad for him. Yes, it will take a while to work that ERA back down to a respectable number. But Chen is owed $20 million in 2019 and $22 million in 2020. So, he’s not going to have to negotiate a new contract for quite some time.