Full name is Bruce Kastulo Chen...resides in Surprise, Ariz., with wife Mary and daughters, Gabriela and Adriana. Participated in 2011, 2013 and 2014 FanFest and 2012 and 2013 Royals Caravan. Grandparents were natives of China, who moved to Panama, where his parents were raised ... competed for Panama at the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic tournaments. Graduated with honors from Instituto Panamericano in Panama in 1995...played basketball and baseball in high school...won the league's ERA title as a freshman...took engineering classes in the offseason at Georgia Tech University while pitching for the Braves.
2013
Bruce completed his fifth season as a Royal...opened the year in the bullpen, going 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA over 33.2 innings before moving to the rotation in July. Sensational over his first six starts, leading MLB with a 0.93 ERA and a .144 opponents average from July 12 to August 13. Posted a 1.62 ERA through August 13, best among Major League pitchers with at least 70.0 innings ... recorded a 5.73 ERA from August 18 to the end of the season. Held righties to a .224 average (67-for-299) and a .351 slugging percentage, both second-best among qualifying A.L. left-handers...the average ranks third among KC lefties, trailing Vida Blue (.220 in 1982) and Larry Gura (.222 in 1981), with the slugging percentage third behind Andy Hassler (.319 in 1976) and Gura (.351 in 1981). Tied for second in the A.L with five pickoffs...is tied for third in MLB with 25 since the start of 2009, trailing only Clayton Kershaw (42) and Mark Buehrle (36).
2012
Bruce led the Royals and tied for A.L. lead with a career-high 34 starts and set a career high with 140 strikeouts
while tossing 191.2 innings, second-most of his career...Posted double-digit wins in three straight seasons, joining Royals lefties Charlie Leibrandt(1984-88),Bud Black
(1983-85), Larry Gura (1978-84) and Paul Splittorff (1972-74 and 1976-80)...Issued just 47 walks in 191.2 innings, the fourth-fewest walks among A.L. hurlers with at least 190 innings...
allowed 34 home runs, the fourth-most in the A.L...Streaky season saw Bruce go 0-4 over his first 6 starts, 7-2 in his next 10 starts, then 4-8 over his final 18 starts...up
and down season is reflected in his monthly ERA numbers of 4.23 in April, 5.35 in May, 3.76 in June, 8.31 in July,
3.89 in August and 5.12 in September...Broke three extended dry spells, knocking off Boston on May 9, his first win over the BoSox since 2005, then
defeating Texas on May 14, his first win vs. the Rangers also since the '05 campaign...he defeated the D-Backs, 7-3,
on May 19 for his first win over Arizona since 1998...Recorded his 1,000th career strikeout on September 8 in Chicago, fanning Alexei Ramirez in the first inning.
2011
Bruce led the Royals staff in wins for the second-straight season, earning the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year award
from the KC chapter of the BBWAA...Experienced success against A.L. Central rivals, going 8-3 with a 2.47 ERA (91.0 IP, 74 H, 25 ER) in 14 starts...
the 8 wins against the Central were tied for the second-most in baseball while his 2.47 ERA was the second-best
among pitchers with at least 10 starts against the division, trailing Texas' Alexi Ogando (1.80)...included was a
3-1 record with a 1.89 ERA in 5 starts against the White Sox...Was 6-3 at home with the Royals going 9-4 in those 13 starts...dating to 2010, is now 12-6 at Kauffman Stadium in
24 starts...Missed more than a month with a left lat strain, being placed on the 15-day D.L. on May 11 and returning, after 3
rehab assignments, on June 24...Was 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA in 6 starts in August to earn Royals Pitcher of the Month... now 19-9 with a 3.81 ERA in
62 career games in August (34 starts)...both the number of wins and the ERA are career bests...included in his month
of August was a career-high 5-game winning streak from August 7-28, posting a 2.81 ERA...Closed the season strong, posting a 6-3 record and 2.93 ERA in his final 10 starts with an opponent batting average
of .218.
2010
Bruce was named the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner after a remarkable season that started as a
non-roster invite to Spring Training, then moved to Triple-A Omaha and ended with him leading the club with 12
wins...the win total was the second-most in his career (13 for Baltimore in 2005).
...The 12 victories were the most by a KC southpaw since Charlie Leibrandt and Floyd Bannister (Brian's dad) won
13 and 12 games, respectively, for the Royals in 1988.
...Held batters to a .225 average in 16 road appearances (12 starts), the sixth-best mark in the American League.
...He had his contract purchased on April 23 and recorded his first career save on April 26 vs. Seattle.
...Retired the first 18 Angels he faced on July 3 in Anaheim, becoming the first KC pitcher to be perfect through at
least 6.0 innings since Bret Saberhagen on September 27, 1991, also against the Angels...ended up a 4-2 winner,
allowing just 2 hits and 1 run through 7.1 innings.
...Pitched the best game of his career in his final start of the season on October 1 vs. Tampa Bay, a 2-hit shutout in a 7-0
triumph...according to the Elias Sports Bureau, he had made 143 career starts prior to October 1 and the last pitcher
whose first career shutout came after start No. 143 was Dan Haren on September 16, 2008 as a Diamondback, in the
152nd start of Haren's career.
...The last pitcher whose first career shutout came after throwing at least 1,000 innings was former Royal Brett Tomko,
then of the San Francisco Giants, on August 26, 2004...the last time a pitcher threw a shutout in October against a firstplace
team was on October 1, 2004 when Dave Bush of the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the New York Yankees, 7-0.
2009
Signed as a minor league free agent on March 11...opened the year at Omaha, where he went 4-2 with a 3.40 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) with 3 shutouts...Had his contract selected from Omaha on June 27...made his Royals debut as a starter on June 28 at Pittsburgh...earned his lone win on August 6 vs. Seattle, his first in the Majors since October 2, 2005 at Tampa Bay...Left a relief appearance on September 17 at Detroit with a left oblique injury...placed on the 60-day D.L. on September 23, ending his season.
2008
Missed the 2008 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his left elbow following the 2007 campaign.
2006
Chen followed up his 13-win season by going winless in 40 appearances. The southpaw allowed 28 home runs in less than 100 innings, but he had allowed 33 in 197 1/3 innings in 2006. Chen completed six innings just twice in 12 starts. The southpaw had a 6.78 ERA before the All-Star break and a 7.24 mark in 20 games after the intermission.
2005
The crafty left-hander set career highs in several categories, including wins with 13. Chen cemented his spot in the starting rotation by allowing one run over nine innings for his first ML complete game on April 15. Chen also won four games in August with a 2.04 ERA.
2004
Joined the Orioles from AAA Ottawa on August 25 and made 7 starts and one relief appearance...
Ranked 8th in the American League with a 3.02 ERA over that time.
Began the season as a non-roster invitee to Toronto's spring camp...Made 3 starts for AAA Syracuse
before being acquired by the Orioles for cash considerations on May 2.
Was assigned to AAA Ottawa and made 22 appearances, including 17 starts, for the Lynx before the
Orioles purchased his contract...At the time, was tied for the International League lead with 116 strikeouts.
Combined to go 4-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 25 games between Syracuse and Ottawa (105.1IP, 102H,
53R/44ER, 35BB, 116K).
Over his last 19 games at Ottawa beginning May 24, he went 4-2 with a 2.62 ERA (82.1IP,
24ER)...Made 5 of his 6 appearances from May 24 to June 13 out of the bullpen, allowing one
unearned run in 9.1 innings with 14 strikeouts before returning to the rotation on June 19.
Joined the Orioles on August 25 to start that night at Oakland and pitched 7.0 shutout innings without
a decision, allowing 3 hits and 4 walks...Did not allow a run in his first 4.0 innings in his next start
on August 31 at Tampa Bay, to extend his scoreless stretch to 11.0 innings.
Went without a decision in his first 3 starts despite allowing just 4 earned runs in 17.0 innings.
Earned his first win on September 13 at Toronto, pitching his first career complete game in the
Orioles' 9-1 victory...Allowed 5 hits and did not walk a batter to snap a personal 6-game losing streak.
Was his first major league win since 4/21/02 with Montreal and his first as a starter since 8/29/01 with
the New York Mets.
Suffered his only loss in his next start on September 19 at Minnesota, allowing 4 runs in 7.0
innings...Was his 5th start and appearance for the O's, all coming on the road.
Did not get a decision in his 2 starts at Camden Yards but was the winner in relief in the season finale
on October 3 vs. Boston...Pitched 3.0 innings of one-hit shutout relief in the O's 3-2 win, entering to
start the 5th inning with the score tied 2-2.
Allowed 2 earned runs or less in 4 of his 7 starts for the Orioles...Allowed 3 earned runs or less in
19 of his 22 starts with Ottawa.
The Orioles are his 9th pro organization and the 8th Major League team for which he has pitched in
11 pro seasons.
2001
Tied for second in the N.L. with 7 pickoffs in 2001.
1998
Made his Major League debut for Atlanta on September 7, 1998.
