Andres Chavez
The evolution of a modern bullpen often feels like a high-stakes scavenger hunt. Brian Cashman, a man who has made a career out of finding diamond-grade arms in the rough, thought he spotted a sparkler in Colorado earlier this year. Back on January 28, the New York Yankees acquired 23-year-old right-handed reliever Angel Chivilli from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for minor league first baseman T.J. Rumfield.
On paper, it was a classic Bronx heist: trading a blocked corner infielder for a live arm with the kind of raw materials that pitching coaches dream about during the winter meetings.
The Allure of Elite Velocity
Cashman loved Chivilli’s pure stuff and fastball velocity. It is easy to see why. Enamored by Chivilli’s 97.1 mph on average last year (good for the 88th percentile) and his two bat-missing secondaries, his changeup and slider, Cashman pulled the trigger to bring him to the Bronx.
When a pitcher can push the radar gun toward triple digits while leaning on two different breaking balls that generated whiff rates north of 40 percent, you don’t ask many questions; you just hand over the jersey. Chivilli arrived as a potential relief weapon, a high-octane project for pitching coach Matt Blake.
A Turbulent Spring Training
The trade itself made a lot of sense, but the righty just hasn’t had a good Grapefruit League performance and might be pitching himself out of the Opening Day roster. Spring training statistics are often a mirage, but Chivilli’s numbers have been a desert storm.
Chivilli has a 14.85 ERA in 6.2 Grapefruit League innings, though, including two more earned runs on Saturday. His 1.95 WHIP is alarming, too. It is the pitching equivalent of a high-performance sports car that looks stunning in the driveway but stalls every time it hits the highway. While the velocity remains, the execution has been scattered, leading to consistent traffic on the basepaths and early exits from the mound.
The Roster Crunch in Tampa
Not everything has been bad, though. The talented righty does have 10 strikeouts, and he has had his share of bad luck. The strikeouts prove the “stuff” is still there—he is missing bats when he finds the zone—but the consistency is missing.
At this point, it would be a huge surprise if the Yankees take him with them to San Francisco for the opener when guys like Cade Winquest, Jake Bird, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, Osvaldo Bido, and Kervin Castro, among others, have pitched better. Reliability usually trumps potential, and right now, the Yankees need arms they can trust to navigate a clean inning rather than a project still finding its footing.
Future Outlook and Patience
Does this mean Chivilli is a lost cause? Not at all. You just don’t give up on a guy with elite fastball velocity and a pair of breaking balls that had a whiff rate over 40 percent after a bad spring.
If he doesn’t make the roster, he will use the upper minors to work on improving his fastball shape and command to earn another shot with the Yankees. Think of him as a rough-cut gemstone; the value is undeniable, but it needs more time under the polisher. He is definitely one to watch, and if the team is patient, it might see huge benefits of rostering Chivilli soon.
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