Chin-Feng Chen

By John Sickels
Wednesday, November 21 Updated 1:03 PM EST

Two years ago, Chin-Feng Chen was one of the best prospects in baseball. A year
ago, he was one of the biggest disappointments. Now, he's one of the best
prospects again. What's going on with this guy? Let's find out.


Chin-Feng Chen
Los Angeles Dodgers
Position: OF Height: 6-1 Weight: 190 Born: 10/28/77 Bats: Right Throws:Right

Year Team Level        G  AB  R  H  2B 3B HR RBI BB  K  SB CS  BA   OBP   SLG
1999 San Bernadino A 131 510 98 161 22 10 31 123 75 129 31  7 .316 .404  .580
2000 San Antonio AA  133 516 66 143 27  3  6  67 61 131 23 15 .277 .355  .376
2001 Vero Beach A     62 235 38  63 15  3  5  41 28  56  2  0 .268 .359  .421
2001 Jacksonville AA  66 224 47  70 16  2 17  50 41  65  5  4 .313 .422  .629


The Dodgers signed Chin-Feng Chen out of Taiwan in January, 1999. Projected
as a solid all-around player, he went to the high Class A California League
in his first pro season, and immediately dominated. Chen hit for power and
average, controlled the strike zone, stole bases, and played solid outfield
defense. He was rated the Top Prospect in the Dodgers system by most
experts,and became the first 30/30 player in the history of the California
League.

I gave him a Grade A- in the 2000 edition of the Minor League Scouting Notebook,
ranking him as the No. 14 prospect in all of baseball.


Chen moved up to the Texas League in 2000 ... and fell flat on his face. He
lost 30 points off his batting average, but more disturbing was his huge drop
in power production. He lost more than 200 points off his slugging percentage.
Scouts said he had a hard time catching up with fastballs. I saw him play for
San Antonio, and he looked very uncomfortable at the plate, swinging at pitches
outside the strike zone and generally looking lost. He even had trouble on
defense, especially his throwing. What rated as an above-average and accurate
arm in '99 was rated as below-average in '00.


At the time, there was no word about possible injuries, making his drop in
performance all the more puzzling. It turned out, however, that Chen played the
entire season with a sore shoulder. He had surgery after the season; they
removed some scar tissue from his right shoulder.


Chen didn't play well in spring training this past season, and opened the
season back in Class A. His performance for Vero Beach was mediocre, but he got
hot in June as he regained strength in the shoulder, earning a move backup to
Double-A. His performance for Double-A Jacksonville was outstanding: he
regained his power, showed improved strike zone judgment, and even threw the
ball with authority again. He now ranks as a top prospect once again.


It's now obvious that Chen's problem in 2000 was his shoulder. Now that
it's healthy again, I don't see any reason why Chen won't continue to hit well.
His bat speed is excellent. He shows power to all fields. His running speed is
average, but he has good instincts and could steal 10 bases a year in the
majors.

He has improved his reads on breaking pitches, enabling him to do a
better job controlling the strike zone.  The fastballs that gave him
trouble in '00 were launched out of the park on a frequent basis in 2001.
Of course, until he does well in Triple-A, there will be a few shreds of
doubt about Chen. But I don't see anything in his second-half, physically-
healthy numbers to warn of struggles ahead. His strikeout rate is high,
but given his walk rate, I don't anticipate long-term contact troubles.
A half season of Triple-A would come in handy for him, just to consolidate
his revival, but I expect Chen to challenge for a regular job in 2003.