PO-YU CHEN, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
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Born: October 2, 2001 Height: 6’2″ Weight: 187 Bats: Left Throws: Right Signed: Int’l Free Agent, 2020, Pittsburgh Pirates How Acquired: International Free Agent Country: Taiwan Agent: N/A |
WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE |
Chen was a prominent signing for the Pirates, as the bonus shows. When he was signed, he threw in the low-90s with a very good curve and splitter. He also throws a slider and cutter. Chen was advanced for a pitcher his age and has generally shown very good command as a pro. There may be some question about his projection. By 2022, he was throwing 93-94 at least some of the time, but his velocity has been up and down. His fastball has been too hittable so far, so that’s the main issue for him.
2021 Chen made six starts in the FCL and his advanced command was too much for the hitters there. He didn’t walk a batter, as he evidently had great success getting batters to hit, or miss, his pitch. The Pirates moved him up to Bradenton and he had a lot more trouble. He threw seven shutout innings in one start, but struggled in his other three. The batters at that level were better able to lay off pitches just out of the strike zone. He may have been tired, also, as his velocity with Bradenton was mostly 89-91 after reportedly being up as high as 95 in the FCL. 2022 Chen spent the entire season in the Bradenton rotation. He had a puzzling season, as he more or less alternated starts in which he dominated with ones in which he got hit around a good bit. He generally threw strikes and missed a good number of bats. Opponents put up an OPS of .678 against him, which was just under the league average of .687. Chen’s inconsistency may be a matter of him having only a limited margin of error with his command. With its extremely HR-prone ballpark, Greensboro will be an interesting challenge. |
CONTRACT INFORMATION
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2023: Minor League Contract |
PLAYER INFORMATION
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Signing Bonus: $1,000,000 MiLB Debut: 2021 MLB Debut: N/A MiLB FA Eligible: 2027 MLB FA Eligible: N/A Rule 5 Eligible: 2024 Added to 40-Man: N/A Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
TRANSACTIONS
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October 7, 2020: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent. |