The New York Yankees already have the greatest closer of all time in their history books. Mariano Rivera, the only unanimous hall of famer in baseball history, revolutionized the closer position. Rivera earned an astonishing 652 saves and had an incredible 2.21 ERA during his regular season career. Not too mention the incredible history he had in the postseason. The Yankees have been very fortunate when it comes to guys who have manned the closer position. Once Mariano retired, the Yankees transitioned to David Robertson. After David Robertson, the Yankees had Andrew Miller. Then the Yankees went out and acquired the flame thrower of all flame throwers to man the closing position. Aroldis Chapman came to the Yankees in 2016, and he’s been pretty dominant since he’s been here. Yes, there was a detour for a few months which led to the Yankees acquiring Gleyber Torres, but for the most part, Chapman is entering his fifth season for the Yankees and he’s actually getting better with age. He’s also coming up on a prestigious honor for any closer.
Chapman as a Yankee
The Cuban Missile showed some signs of the engine sputtering during his 2017 season. Chapman lost his closers position, and his confidence seemed to be at an all-time low. His ERA was approaching four, and he really couldn’t get anyone out. He couldn’t control his fastball, and when he did, he couldn’t get it by guys. Of course, Chapman was able to put it together by the end of the season and got his ERA down to 3.22. Entering 2018, Chapman started pitching with a new style. Yes, he could still flash 100 on the radar gun, but he started really going to his slider more. In 2017, Chapman threw his slider 172 times. In 2018, that slider usage went up to 234 times, and in 2019 Chapman threw his slider 307 times. Chapman’s increased slider usage has increased his performance across the board. Chapman lowered his ERA in 2018 to 2.45 and that number fell to 2.21 in 2019. Chapman’s slider now makes his fastball even more dynamic. If a player is sitting on a slider, Chapman can blow the fastball by them. If they are sitting fastball, he can buckle them with his slider. Chapman is becoming more of a pitcher rather than a pure flame thrower.
The 300 club awaits
Chapman enters the 2020 season as one of the best relief pitchers in the game. I expect his ERA to stay in the low twos this year, and I expect Aroldis Chapman to pick up his 300th save this season. As for a prediction, Chapman will join the 300 save club and he will have a career high 39 saves this season. Chapman is going to continue to dominate baseball and show why he’s been one of the best closers over the last nine years. Chapman is putting together a hall of fame career for a closer, now he just needs to go out and assist the Yankees with bringing home #28.