BASEBALL/'Goodbye, my pitcher's mound': Chen Wei-yin calls it a career

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) Pitcher Chen Wei-yin (陳偉殷), the highest paid Taiwanese player ever in Major League Baseball (MLB), announced his retirement from the game on Wednesday following a decorated professional career in the United States and Japan.

In a lengthy Facebook post that in a way typified the attention to detail and professional approach he showed as a pro, the 39-year-old lefty said he had decided to bid farewell to a career spanning 20 years after realizing that he could no longer perform at a high level.

"As a professional player, pain and fatigue have never been the hardest things to deal with. The real challenge is honestly facing up to no longer being at one's peak," Chen wrote.

"After countless internal struggles, I told my wife: 'My body has reached its limit. I think it's time for me to retire."

He expressed his gratitude to his family, friends and fans for supporting him during his baseball career and thanked all the teams he played for during his Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and MLB days.

"I have fought a good fight and I thank everyone who was with me on my journey," he said, adding that he gave his best in every game he pitched.

He also thanked baseball for giving a kid from rural area in Kaohsiung the opportunity to have a place on the world stage and fulfill his dream.

"Goodbye, my pitcher's mound," he said sentimentally at the end of his post.

Chen said he would take to the mound for the last time on March 16 at Vantelin Dome in Nagoya, the home stadium of the NPB's Chunichi Dragons, where he began his professional career.

The Dragons have announced that Chen will mark his retirement that day by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before an exhibition game leading into the upcoming NPB season.

Born on July 21, 1985, Chen signed with the Dragons in 2003 before making his NPB debut in 2005.

He became an ace starter for the Nagoya-based team and left with a 37- 33 record and ERA of 2.60 over seven seasons before being offered a contract by the MLB's Baltimore Orioles.

The historic deal made him the first Taiwan-born player to sign with a major league team out of Japan's NPB.

The Taiwanese player made his MLB debut on April 10, 2012, as a starting pitcher for the Orioles against the New York Yankees, making him the seventh Taiwanese to make it to the big leagues.

From there, he played four seasons with the team, before signing a five-year contract worth US$80 million with the Miami Marlins in 2016, the largest guaranteed contract for a pitcher in Marlins franchise history.

His time with the Marlins was disappointing, however, due to injuries. After starting in 53 of the 57 games he appeared in for the Florida club from 2016 to 2018, he worked exclusively in relief in his final MLB season in 2019.

In his four seasons with the Marlins, he had a 13-19 record and a 5.10 ERA, but for his MLB career, he had a 59-51 record and a 4.18 ERA in 219 games (170 as starter).

His 59 wins in the big leagues are the second most of any Taiwanese pitcher, behind only Wang Chien-ming (王建民), who had 68 career wins.

Chen's 1,064.2 innings pitched and 170 starts during his MLB career, however, are both the most for all Taiwan-born players in the major leagues.

Unlike Wang, whose success was closely linked to his signature pitch -- a bowling-ball-like sinker -- Chen had to rely on a full arsenal of pitches, including a four-seam fastball that topped out at 95-96 mph, and a disciplined command of the strike zone.

After his MLB career, Chen returned to the NPB and played for Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers between 2020 and 2022, but only appeared in 19 games over that time.

He sat out 2023 before trying to revive his career in 2024 with the New York-based Long Island Ducks, which competes in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partner league" of MLB.

He started 17 games and had an ERA of 6.37.