Per Jockety Chapman is close

[SidneySlicker]

Per an espn article Walt says that Chapman is close to getting a call up. I tend to think that he's a little further away from bigs if they are looking at him as a starter due to his inconsistency in hitting the strike zone and his ability to keep his pitch count down, but we'll see. Whenever it does come it will be a exciting time in Cincy.

"I think he's pretty close," Jocketty said. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5232020)

[GIDP]

Pretty close to maybe joining the pen, but hes no where close to pitching in a major league rotation.

[Vottomatic]

Wow. I didn't expect to see Chapman this season, except for maybe a late season call-up for the bullpen.

Talk about selling tickets.

[SidneySlicker]

At first I was leaning toward letting him spend the year at Triple A, but I'm actually warming up to the idea of him being brought up to the pen.

My question to everyone is this. Where do you see him ending up in rotation or in the pen? Does this organization have enough pitching depth that they can afford to put him in the pen as a future set up man or closer extraordinaire or would it be more advantageous to take their time and expend all resources in turning him into a starting pitcher at the major league level?

[Roush's socks]

Chapman is nearly un-hittable against LH batting right now as he is. In the bullpen that can be helpful. However, in the pen it is harder to manage a guy and know when he is going to pitch, but with limited innings it shouldn't matter.

I think the Reds will have to trade one of their starters eventually to make room for Chapman/Volquez.

[Quatitos]

I would love to see Chapman come up in a month or so, where it is at depends on his performance.

If he keeps only going 5-6 innings a start, then let him get his debut in the bullpen, especially since he seems to be working on getting loose faster.

If he starts stringing together 6 and 7 inning games, then move him into the starting rotation if someone gets injured or if Harang does not improve and you move Harang somewhere.

[nemesis]

Harang's next couple starts are going to be telling. If he continues to pitch ineffectively then I could see his spot in jeopardy. There are plenty of non $12 Million dollar options who can put up similar if not better numbers than Harang in AAA.

Harang is this years handcuffs.

Player who isn't living up to their contract, can't move via trade and isn't a good fit in the bullpen. So you suffer though and hope for the best.

[markymark69]

There are a couple of shaky spots in the bullpen - I think he may start out in the 'pen. He couldn't do any worse than Lincoln, Fisher, Masset.

[scott91575]

I absolutely despise taking a young, raw pitcher who is a starter and throwing him in the bullpen. Trade for a guy instead and let Chapman learn how to be a starter. Hopefully they are talking about spot starting him and not putting him in the bullpen.

[Vottomatic]

Pretty much every position on the team is filled with either a young player from the organization or a veteran acquisition at a position we have no up and comers to fill.

I see no reason, with our abundance of prospects that Walt can't wheel and deal and bolster the bullpen some. Our minor leaguers are going to be sitting in the minor leagues for awhile the way this team is playing.