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Thread: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

  1. #16
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    He may not be ready as a starter, but it sounds as if the scout feels he could be a dominating reliever as soon as this season.

    That might work nicely for the Reds. They've got plenty of rotation options, and it would allow for an easier transition to the bigs for Chapman -- fewer innings, less pressure, etc.

    Ultimately he's going to start.


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  3. #17
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by lollipopcurve View Post
    He may not be ready as a starter, but it sounds as if the scout feels he could be a dominating reliever as soon as this season.

    That might work nicely for the Reds. They've got plenty of rotation options, and it would allow for an easier transition to the bigs for Chapman -- fewer innings, less pressure, etc.

    Ultimately he's going to start.
    I think he could certainly be a good to very good reliever today in the majors. But if the Reds want him to start, he need a while in the minors. His best game control wise was last night and it was still pretty bad. With that said, it was a mirror image of his other starts from what I saw. He couldn't throw the offspeed stuff for strikes much last night and has been able to in the past. In the past he struggled to throw the fastball for strikes consistently and last night he was able to at a higher rate than in the past.

  4. #18

    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    That's the beauty of baseball. Everbody has an opinion. At one point last night I was thinking about how Chapman would make a good closer because of his fastball. But I think with his fastball and slider -- which is great more often than it's very hittable -- he should be a starter, plus he showed a decent changeup last night even if he only threw it a few times. His changeup had a lot of movement, more than I expected, and the speed was good -- low 80s -- which is a tough adjustment when it looks like a fastball that should come in at 95-plus.

    But, Piliere, who has probably seen more baseball at a high level than I have, thinks he'd make a great reliever. There's no way to tell who's right at this point. Teams have shown the willingness to use future starters in the pen -- Rangers' Neftali Feliz and Mets' Jenrry Mejia stand out -- so it's at least reasonable to think the Reds might consider that move if they aren't already.
    Last edited by RS17TIMES; 04-29-2010 at 02:42 PM.

  5. #19
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    My only wish is that the Reds had five starters down in Louisville that sucked as badly as Chapman obviously does.

  6. #20
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by texasdave View Post
    My only wish is that the Reds had five starters down in Louisville that sucked as badly as Chapman obviously does.
    Comments like this are silly Dave. Chapman clearly doesn't suck. No one is saying he does. Some are saying that he isn't ready for the majors as a starter right now and unless he improves, he won't be a good starter because he struggles to throw the ball where he wants too and there are questions about his durability in at least one scouts eye (side note to this - first game I have seen Chapman's velo dip, could just have been the 40 degree weather in Scranton).

  7. #21
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by RS17TIMES View Post
    But, Piliere, who has probably seen more baseball at a high level than I have, thinks he'd make a great reliever. There's no way to tell who's right at this point. Teams have shown the willingness to use future starters in the pen -- Rangers' Neftali Feliz and Mets' Jenrry Mejia stand out -- so it's at least reasonable to think the Reds might consider that move if they aren't already.
    Volquez and Chapman in the bullpen for the playoff push!
    2015 Rotation: Under Construction

  8. #22
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    4) Perhaps Chapman was working on developing a cutter or trying to add more movement to his pitches (a la Leake) and wanted to take a few mph off his fastball to get more movement.
    Wasn't there talks of Chapman throwing a two seamer in spring training? 87-91's a big drop in arm speed if he's not using it for more movement.

  9. #23
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    Comments like this are silly Dave. Chapman clearly doesn't suck. No one is saying he does. Some are saying that he isn't ready for the majors as a starter right now and unless he improves, he won't be a good starter because he struggles to throw the ball where he wants too and there are questions about his durability in at least one scouts eye (side note to this - first game I have seen Chapman's velo dip, could just have been the 40 degree weather in Scranton).
    He is coming over here from another country and I imagine being on his own for the first time combined with the culture shock alone is crazy. On top of that he has made all of four starts in the minors. I am not sure why anyone would try to pass any type of judgement on what Chapman will or won't be at all under such circumstances. Aside from that I wonder how many minor league prospects, no matter how highly touted they are, are locked and loaded the second they step foot on a major league mound. I think judging what he will or won't be under such circumstances is what is really silly.

  10. #24
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by texasdave View Post
    He is coming over here from another country and I imagine being on his own for the first time combined with the culture shock alone is crazy. On top of that he has made all of four starts in the minors. I am not sure why anyone would try to pass any type of judgement on what Chapman will or won't be at all under such circumstances. Aside from that I wonder how many minor league prospects, no matter how highly touted they are, are locked and loaded the second they step foot on a major league mound. I think judging what he will or won't be under such circumstances is what is really silly.
    It is what guys like Frankie are paid to do. Watch baseball players and project what they will do in the future, regardless of whether they watch them throw 20 pitches or 1000.

  11. #25
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by Superdude View Post
    Wasn't there talks of Chapman throwing a two seamer in spring training? 87-91's a big drop in arm speed if he's not using it for more movement.
    Chapman does throw two fastballs. I like what he calls them though. Fastball and less fast fastball lol.

  12. #26
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    Comments like this are silly Dave. Chapman clearly doesn't suck. No one is saying he does. Some are saying that he isn't ready for the majors as a starter right now and unless he improves, he won't be a good starter because he struggles to throw the ball where he wants too and there are questions about his durability in at least one scouts eye (side note to this - first game I have seen Chapman's velo dip, could just have been the 40 degree weather in Scranton).
    What's the difference between a 23 year old Ubaldo Jimenez and a 23 year old Aroldis Chapman? Both carry high walk rates and throw fast.
    2015 Rotation: Under Construction

  13. #27
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by mdccclxix View Post
    What's the difference between a 23 year old Ubaldo Jimenez and a 23 year old Aroldis Chapman? Both carry high walk rates and throw fast.
    I don't know, I didn't watch Jiminez throw as a 23 year old. With Chapman though, his control is worse than the numbers show us (while typically the story can be told for overpowering guys in the minors, with Chapman, it has been worse than other guys in recent memory for me - David Price was a guy who had worse control than his AAA numbers suggested for example, he struggled to throw his fastball to the target in AAA in 2008 when I watched him a few different times). Of course its incredibly early and sometimes, especially with pitchers, one minor tweak to a delivery can fix control by quite a bit. But for right now, Chapman is struggling with control a lot more than his numbers suggest.

  14. #28
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    I wonder if the Reds would have been better off starting Chapman at AA?

  15. #29

    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Quote Originally Posted by dougdirt View Post
    I don't know, I didn't watch Jiminez throw as a 23 year old. With Chapman though, his control is worse than the numbers show us (while typically the story can be told for overpowering guys in the minors, with Chapman, it has been worse than other guys in recent memory for me - David Price was a guy who had worse control than his AAA numbers suggested for example, he struggled to throw his fastball to the target in AAA in 2008 when I watched him a few different times). Of course its incredibly early and sometimes, especially with pitchers, one minor tweak to a delivery can fix control by quite a bit. But for right now, Chapman is struggling with control a lot more than his numbers suggest.
    It was just one game, but he didn't appear to have any control issues last night. His strike-to-ball ratio was 2-to-1 and he regularly pitched inside to righties and lefties. One of the three walks he allowed was a 10-pitch at bat with four foul balls after he got two strikes.

  16. #30
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    Re: My take on Aroldis Chapman tonight

    Call me crazy but I'd still like to see Chapman eased in via the bullpen. Let him work on things under the tutelage of our best pitching coach without the pressure and pitch counts that come as a starter.
    Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.


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