"C'mon, Chen!" Bruce Chen Was More Than A Meme

“Come on, Chen!”

It was June 4, 2010. An otherwise random Friday night game in an already-lost season, as the Royals entered the game at 22-33 on the year. But the first “Big Slick” charity event to raise money for Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital was held at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City’s favorite celebrity sons - Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd, and Jason Sudeikis - were in town for the weekend with some of their show business friends. In a dugout suite, Royals television broadcaster Joel Goldberg attempted to interview some of them. But (a possibly inebriated) Will Ferrell kept hollering at the somewhat obscure pitcher on the mound.

“Come on, Chen!”

As social media was gaining steam, this moment quickly became a meme, at least among Royals fans. It helped that Bruce Chen was about to embark on the best three-season stretch of his career, with all three of those years in Kansas City as he helped stabilize a rotation that desperately needed dependable arms.

Bruce Kastulo Chen was born on June 19, 1977, in Panama City, Panama. You might think “Chen” is an unusual surname for someone born in Panama, but there is an explanation. Many Chinese people fled their home country during a time of civil war in the 1920s, settling in Panama. One of those was Bruce’s grandfather, just a boy when his parents sent him (on his own!) to waiting relatives in Panama. 

Because he is Panamanian, Chen was not subject to the MLB draft. The Atlanta Braves signed him as an amateur free agent in 1993, just days after he turned 16. He didn’t exactly have a quick climb through the minors, but he did make his major league debut on September 7, 1998. He was able to stick with Atlanta for the second half of the 1999 season, making a few starts but mostly pitching in relief. He pitched in 22 games for the Braves in 2000 before a July trade sent him to Philadelphia.

This began the “bouncing around” portion of Chen’s career. A left-handed pitcher is always in demand, and Chen was traded again (to the Mets) in 2001, to the Expos in April 2002, to the Reds in June 2002, and was released by both the Reds and the Astros in 2003, eventually signing with the Red Sox. As a free agent after the season, he signed with Toronto but didn’t pitch in the majors for them, and was sent to Baltimore at the beginning of May 2004.

Here, Chen finally found some stability. He only pitched in eight games for the Orioles in 2004, but performed well (2-1, 3.02 ERA) in seven starts. In 2005, with a spot in the rotation for the whole season, he had his best year to date, with a 13-10 record and 3.83 ERA. 

But he wasn’t as fortunate in 2006, going 0-5 with a 7.71 ERA in his first 10 starts before being demoted to the bullpen. He never did pick up a win that season, finishing 0-7 with a 6.93 ERA. In a case of unfortunate timing, Chen was a free agent after that season. He wound up signing a minor league deal with Texas, but made the Opening Day roster. However, he was soon sent to Triple-A, then sidelined by an elbow injury. The ensuing Tommy John surgery cost him the rest of the season and all of 2008.

That led to another minor league deal, this time with the Royals. He finally returned to the majors in late June, and after a few rough outings, seemed to find his groove. Chen finished the year with a 1-6 record and 5.78 ERA, but Kansas City was interested enough to re-sign him, again on a minor league deal, in the offseason.

Chen started the year at triple-A Omaha, but was with the Royals before the end of April, as the bullpen had a disastrous beginning to the year. The start where “Come on, Chen!” was born was actually just his second one of the year (by the way, Ferrell’s exhortations helped; Chen outdueled a young Max Scherzer for the win). Roughly a month later, he gave Royals fans a thrill by taking a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Angels. A one-out home run in the eighth ended that, but Chen and the Royals still picked up a win. 

At the end of the season, Chen led Royals starters in wins (12) and ERA (4.17, tied with Zack Greinke). His final start of the year was another memorable one, as he notched his first career shutout with a 7-0 blanking of Tampa Bay. The 12 wins were the most by a Royals southpaw since Charlie Leibrandt won 13 and Floyd Bannister won 12 in 1988. Chen was granted the Joe Burke Special Achievement award by the Kansas City chapter of the BBWAA. He also received another contract, this one a major league deal, for the 2011 season.

And Chen once again delivered. He led the starters in wins (12, again) and ERA (3.77 this time), although a strained back muscle limited him to 25 starts. Still, he received the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year award from the KC BBWAA voters. Royals fans perhaps didn’t realize it at the time, but the core of the 2014-15 teams was assembling at the major-league level. But the position players were arriving before the pitchers, so Chen was a valuable stabilizing force in a rotation that no longer had Greinke, as he had been traded to Milwaukee in the offseason.

The Royals were happy to once again re-sign Chen, this time on a two-year contract. And Chen continued to be an anchor in a still-unsettled rotation in 2012, leading the majors with 34 starts, including the honors on Opening Day. He also tossed the second-most innings of his career (191 ⅔). He did pick up the most strikeouts of his career, with 140. But home runs were a problem; Chen allowed 33 long balls, up from 18 the year before. That led to his ERA jumping to 5.07. 

The Royals upgraded their rotation for 2013, bringing in Wade Davis, Ervin Santana, and James Shields. With mid-year acquisition Jeremy Guthrie already in the fold, and some spring training struggles on top of that, Chen found himself squeezed out of the rotation to start the year. To his credit, he quickly found his niche in the bullpen, maintaining a 2.41 ERA into early July. With Luis Mendoza struggling, Chen rejoined the rotation. He went 6-4 with a 3.61 ERA in 15 starts down the stretch as Kansas City, for the first time in a decade, played meaningful games in September. Although the Royals missed out on the postseason, things looked promising for 2014. 

The Royals again re-signed Chen, this time to a one-year deal for 2014 with a mutual option for 2015. He began the 2014 season in the rotation but, at the end of April, was diagnosed with a bulging disc in his back. He would miss two months with that ailment, then struggled in his return. He did pick up a win over Chicago on July 22, tying him with Mariano Rivera for the most major league wins by a Panamanian pitcher (82). Unfortunately, that would be his last career win. After more struggles in the bullpen, the Royals designated Chen for assignment at the end of August.

Chen signed with Cleveland ahead of the 2015 season, but after two poor performances, he announced his retirement. It was a disappointing ending to a career, but still, he had accomplished a lot. He pitched in the World Baseball Classic four times: for Panama in 2006 and 2009 and for China in 2013 and 2017. He played for 17 seasons in the majors, mentoring future Royals stars like Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura (Chen served as Ventura’s interpreter for much of his time in KC); earning an AL championship ring; and winning the admiration of Royals fans. And of course, becoming a meme, thanks to Will Ferrell.