New CPBL Holds King: Chen Yu-Hsun
On April 27, the Rakuten Monkeys veteran reliever 陳禹勳 (Chen Yu-Hsun) pitched one scoreless inning against the CTBC Brothers and set the new CPBL record with 119 holds and 499 relief appearances.
Chen Yu-Hsun, the 10-season veteran, entered the game in the top of the seventh inning. He surrendered a leadoff single but was able to retire the next three batters to keep the Monkeys’ 5-4 lead and earned him his record-breaking 119th career hold.
“I want to thank the two managers, Hong I-Chung and Tseng Hao-Ju, in my professional career for giving me the opportunities to reach those relief milestones,” Chen Yun-Wen told UDN.
Chen, the 33-year-old right-hander, was the Monkeys’ first-round pick in 2013 and has been the foundation of the Monkeys’ bullpen since 2014.
He was the save leader for the 2017 and 2018 seasons and broke the single-season save record in 2017 with 37 saves. In the 2014 and 2022 seasons, he led the league in holds.
As of April 28, Chen Yu-Hsun has compiled the following career stats.
– 499 Games (1st in CPBL as a reliever)
– 497 Innings
– 119 Saves (4th in CPBL)
– 119 Holds (1st in CPBL)
– 3.49 ERA
– 1.41 WHIP
– 491 Strikeouts
When asked by the media whether he would still like to pursue the most career saves record (132 saves), Chen said whether he could break the all-time saves record or not is up to god.
“I am just an ordinary person when I am off the field. No matter how well or poorly I pitched today, tomorrow is a new beginning,” said Chen.
Chen Yu-Hsun is currently leading the CPBL all-time holds record with 119. He is followed by two active relievers, Lai Hong-Cheng (103) and Wang Chien-Ming (102). There are only four relievers in the CPBL history to have accumulated more than 100 career holds.
At the beginning of the 2023 CPBL season, Chen Yu-Hsun filed for salary arbitration with the Rakuten Monkeys but lost the case. He ended up with an annual salary of 272,000 USD.
Chen Yu-Hsun’s Annual Salary (USD)
- 2013 Season – $150,000 Signing Bonus
- 2014 Season – $44,000
- 2015 Season – $76,000
- 2016 Season – $84,000
- 2017 Season – $136,000
- 2018 Season – $192,000
- 2019 Season – $220,000
- 2020 Season – $212,000
- 2021 Season – $232,000
- 2022 Season – $232,000
- 2023 Season – $272,000
