Chapman

[Krawhitham]

The Reds said he would pitch winter ball to start stretching him back out to be a starter

Then last week it was announced Chapman would pitch in just three games for the Arizona Fall League.

I thought OK, does not really give him much time to stretch back out but at least it is a start

Then today Chapman made his Arizona Fall League debut, and he pitches ONE INNING

1.0 IP, 16 pitches (8 strikes), 3 BF, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB.

HOW is that stretching him out to be a starter?

[redsfanmia]

The Reds said he would pitch winter ball to start stretching him back out to be a starter

Then last week it was announced Chapman would pitch in just three games for the Arizona Fall League.

I thought OK, does not really give him much time to stretch back out but at least it is a start

Then today Chapman made his Arizona Fall League debut, and he pitches ONE INNING

1.0 IP, 16 pitches (8 strikes), 3 BF, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB.

HOW is that stretching him out to be a starter?

I say we throw him 9 innings or 150 pitches every game in the Arizona fall league, he either stretches out or blows his arm out.

[Red Raindog]

A very reasonable question ---

[texasdave]

The Reds said he would pitch winter ball to start stretching him back out to be a starter

Then last week it was announced Chapman would pitch in just three games for the Arizona Fall League.

I thought OK, does not really give him much time to stretch back out but at least it is a start

Then today Chapman made his Arizona Fall League debut, and he pitches ONE INNING

1.0 IP, 16 pitches (8 strikes), 3 BF, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB.

HOW is that stretching him out to be a starter?

Reds' starters don't go much longer than that anyway, do they? He should be ready to go five by spring training. That's all they are gonna get out of him anyway.

[RedsFanIN]

The Reds said he would pitch winter ball to start stretching him back out to be a starter

Then last week it was announced Chapman would pitch in just three games for the Arizona Fall League.

I thought OK, does not really give him much time to stretch back out but at least it is a start

Then today Chapman made his Arizona Fall League debut, and he pitches ONE INNING

1.0 IP, 16 pitches (8 strikes), 3 BF, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB.

HOW is that stretching him out to be a starter?

He last pitched on Sept 27th, almost a month ago. I think they are having him pitch in the AFL to get back in the routine of pitching again. No need to rush things and risk an injury!

[bounty37h]

I thought the article said he was pitching winter ball and starting off slowly a few innings at a time in AFL, thats what this seems to be? Its been over a month since he pitched also, so reasonable IMO.

[LegallyMinded]

Anyone know what kind of workload he will be looking at in winterball? I seem to recall Cueto and/or Volquez having fatigue or injury problems one year after they pitched a lot over the winter, but I don't remember anything for sure. I'd hate to see something similar happen to Chapman.

[malcontent]

Reds' starters don't go much longer than that anyway, do they? He should be ready to go five by spring training. That's all they are gonna get out of him anyway.
Up till now I've wanted to see Chapman start.

But I think you hit the nail on the head. When he either walks or strikes out 80% of opposing hitters, the pitch counts won't let him go deeper.

If starting could bring his control around, I'd be all for it. As it is, the Reds are looking to extend Cordero for lack of better options when Chapman just might be the best (closer) option they have.

[HalKing]

My personal opinion is that its the right move to move Chapman into the starting role. A dominate starter(which he potentially is) is worth way more to any teams chances of winning a division and going deep in the playoffs than a closer. I am for the Reds making this move even if it means Chapman goes back to Louisville for the first month or so of the season to get used to the routine. I'm not sure from what I saw out of Chapman this year that he would actually succeed as a closer anyway. If you want to talk about internal candidates to replace Cordero, I'm not so sure that Volquez wouldn't be a decent guy to put in that role. I'm certainly not sold on him as a starter but he gets praises heaped on him by Dustbag about having great stuff, so who knows? He might just thrive in the closer role.

[Old NDN]

Supposedly, these are "professional" baseball people who are paid well to train, teach, develop, manage, and make decisions on how best to help this team win. Is it too early to worry that the Reds organization doesn't have a clue as what to do with Chapman? If that's the case, then trade him for something useful.