Here’s why Marlins manager Don Mattingly is still confident in Wei-Yin Chen
Wei-Yin Chen finished spring training with a 9.37 ERA over five appearances. And his regular-season debut in his new bullpen role didn’t go well either.
The Marlins’ 33-year-old left-hander allowed both batters he faced to reach base in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Rockies. Chen opened the inning to face two lefties – Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl — and Blackmon doubled and Dahl walked before Sergio Romo entered and recorded the save.
Still, Marlins manager Don Mattingly is confident in Chen.
“I think Wei-Yin will be fine,” Mattingly said. “We’ll talk with him and make sure he’s OK. But he’s around and he’s pitched a lot of baseball. He’s going to help us. There’s going to be a lot of important outs he is going to have to get. There’s a lot of games he’s going to be part of. We have to be able to use him. If not, it’s going to put stress and wear and tear on everyone else. He’s going to be fine.”
The Marlins moved Chen, who still has two years on his contract and is due $20 million this season and $22 million in 2020, to the bullpen toward the end of spring training. During his first three seasons with the Marlins, Chen posted a 13-18 record with a 4.75 ERA.
The reliever role is new for Chen, who had been a starter for his first seven years in the majors except for when he made four relief appearances in 2017 while recovering from a partially torn UCL.
“I got up to pitch the ninth inning against the two lefties. That’s the part I didn’t do well,” Chen said through his interpreter. “I didn’t get an out on those two lefties. That’s the thing I should have done. That’s on me.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ An MRI on Garrett Cooper’s left calf strain confirmed the original diagnosis. Mattingly classified the injury as a “mild calf strain” on Monday.
The Marlins placed Cooper on the 10-day injured list Sunday.
▪ Romo pitched in three of the Marlins’ first four games, but don’t expect that trend to continue.
Mattingly made it clear the team will be careful with the 36-year-old, who joined the Marlins on a one-year deal in February.
“The first words we got from the people we talked to is this guy is not afraid of anything and he’s competitive,” Mattingly said of Romo. “He’s going to compete every time he’s out there. So I think Sergio is understanding who he is, but also we got to be careful from the standpoint that we want this guy around all year long. We don’t want to blow him out the first month or so.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 5:34 PM.
