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Thread: Aroldis Chapman and history

  1. #1
    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Aroldis Chapman and history

    Loved this recent post on Red Reporter, so I thought I'd paste it in here. Mr. Chapman is on track to make history in many, many ways. And even if he doesn't, his stats are going to be the stuff of legend, looks like. Thought it would be nice to have a specific place to discuss these tall tales on RZ.

    We all love facts, don't we? Or, anyway, that's what Charles Dickens' Hard Times taught me. I didn't finish it. Actually, come to think of it, facts are a little bit boring. Those "Chuck Norris facts" were funny (for a little while) because they weren't true. It's probably more accurate to say that we prefer fiction - and, sometimes, factions. Facts that have a quality of fictions. Myths.

    Aroldis Chapman's performance this season has taken on a tint of myth. The very real facts about his pitching sound like the stuff of fiction. Fan-fiction almost, but with a G-rating.

    Here are some of them:

    Via Joel Luckhaupt on Twitter: "The catcher has recorded the last 15 putouts with Chapman on the mound." Meaning, pretty much all the contact in play Chapman has allowed since the end of June have been little dribblers or pop-ups in front of the plate.

    Nearly half of hitters who have faced Chapman this season have struck out (49.1%). That's not half of outs by strikeout (he's close to 63% there), but half of all hitters who have strolled to the plate have K'd.

    60% of plate appearances against Chapman end in either a strike out or ground out.

    Also via Joel Luckhaupt on Twitter (chapter 3, verse 14): "22 of Chapman's last 27 outs have been by strikeout." Could Chapman put up the kind of gaudy numbers he has over these twenty-seven outs in a proper start? Well, he would need to be far less reliant on the fastball and his high-90s velocity would be unlikely to sustain itself over 9 innings. I want to say yes, though. So I will.

    Chapman has allowed just 8 extra base hits in 166 PAs (4.8%, or .224 slugging). A ball leaves the infield (usually for an out) roughly once every five hitters. Since the All Star Break, that's meant less than once per outing.

    Chapman's current strikeout (per nine innings) rate is 17.1. He's pitched 43.2 innings. Kenley Jansen, last season, became the only pitcher since 1901 (let's just say ever) who has even put up a strikeout rate over 16.0 in 40 innings in a season of work. Of course, Chapman has plenty of season left, but he's only 11 short of how many innings Jansen threw last season.

    Chapman's walk rate is currently 2.7. No pitcher in history (>40 IP) has recorded a walk rate below 3.0 and a K-rate above 14.0.

    Over 1,819 pitches (before today), Chapman's average fastball velocity was 98.1.

    No hitter in baseball has faced Chapman more than seven times (Casey McGehee and Prince Fielder). Fielder and McGehee are collectively 0-13, with a walk.

    Jose Reyes has had the most success against Chapman to date (5 PAs, 2-4, triple, BB).
    “Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC


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  3. #2
    All work and no play..... Vottomatic's Avatar
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    I love him as a closer, but the wonder of what if he was a starter will always be there too.

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Vottomatic View Post
    I love him as a closer, but the wonder of what if he was a starter will always be there too.
    I have a feeling we'll never know because of the carnival atmosphere every time he comes in to close. Every time Chapman comes in to pitch, it's like they roll him out as a circus act. It's a farce and gigantic waste of talent. It was extremely tasteless to listen to Thom Breneman and Jeff Brantly in the 9th inning yesterday (actually started in the bottom of the 8th when they were already calling it a "big come from behind win."). I find myself at times hoping that Chapman will fail so this whole closer nonsense will go away.

    The guy needs to be a starter. What that will mean is an end to the 100+ mph pitches, and Chapman learning to pitch in the 95-96 mph range. Plus, he will need to add a breaking pitch and an off speed pitch. I know it sounds pedestrian, but Chapman cannot continue to throw at 101 mph. By the time he's 26, he'll be under a surgeon's knife.

    I know Chapman fires up the crowd in the 9th. I know its good PR. But every save, every strikeout to end the game, puts one more nail in the coffin of what could have been. Chapman would have made a very good rotation into a great rotation.
    “I think I throw the ball as hard as anyone. The ball just doesn't get there as fast.” — Eddie Bane

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    Senor Votto
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    I'd love to see what Chapman would've done in the rotation. I wonder how different things would be if Madson and Masset would've been healthy the whole year.

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    I wear Elly colored glass WrongVerb's Avatar
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeS21 View Post
    The guy needs to be a starter. What that will mean is an end to the 100+ mph pitches, and Chapman learning to pitch in the 95-96 mph range. Plus, he will need to add a breaking pitch and an off speed pitch.
    This much, I agree with. He needs to be stretched out after this season, and have his contract extended too.

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeS21 View Post
    I know it sounds pedestrian, but Chapman cannot continue to throw at 101 mph. By the time he's 26, he'll be under a surgeon's knife.
    This, I disagree with. Chapman's velocity comes from body type + mechanics. I don't really see him over-throwing the ball the way, say, a Dibble or Myers did. I suspect the strain on his arm is on par with most other pitchers.
    Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan View Post
    This, I disagree with. Chapman's velocity comes from body type + mechanics. I don't really see him over-throwing the ball the way, say, a Dibble or Myers did. I suspect the strain on his arm is on par with most other pitchers.
    I hope you are right. But all it takes is one elbow twinge, and all of Reds Land will descend in fury at Walt, Dusty, and the other powers that be.

    However, experience has taught us that Murphy's Law seems to be the mission statement for the entire Reds organization.
    “I think I throw the ball as hard as anyone. The ball just doesn't get there as fast.” — Eddie Bane

    “We know we're better than this ... but we can't prove it.” — Tony Gwynn

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeS21 View Post
    I hope you are right. But all it takes is one elbow twinge, and all of Reds Land will descend in fury at Walt, Dusty, and the other powers that be.

    However, experience has taught us that Murphy's Law seems to be the mission statement for the entire Reds organization.
    If he get's a bad arm.....it's sure not going to be from being overworked....as he has not been here. The only people who would blame Dusty and Walt...are those who do not like them to begin with.

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Cloninger View Post
    If he get's a bad arm.....it's sure not going to be from being overworked....as he has not been here. The only people who would blame Dusty and Walt...are those who do not like them to begin with.
    You've just described 90% of RedsZone!
    “I think I throw the ball as hard as anyone. The ball just doesn't get there as fast.” — Eddie Bane

    “We know we're better than this ... but we can't prove it.” — Tony Gwynn

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    Party like it's 1990 Blitz Dorsey's Avatar
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    People seem to forget that there was no spot in the rotation for Chapman coming out of ST. So, he would have started the year at Louisville if he remained a starter. Leake was NOT on the bubble in spring training. He was the Reds' second-best starting pitcher last year and it wasn't even close. The "battle" was between Bailey and Chapman, and even though Chapman out-performed Bailey in ST, Bailey kept his spot in the rotation. And to Bailey's credit he's pitched well thus far this season.

    Hey, I wanted Chapman to be a starter too. I was adamant he should be a starter. But that ship has sailed, IMO. He's going to stick as a closer.

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Blitz Dorsey View Post
    People seem to forget that there was no spot in the rotation for Chapman coming out of ST. So, he would have started the year at Louisville if he remained a starter. Leake was NOT on the bubble in spring training. He was the Reds' second-best starting pitcher last year and it wasn't even close. The "battle" was between Bailey and Chapman, and even though Chapman out-performed Bailey in ST, Bailey kept his spot in the rotation. And to Bailey's credit he's pitched well thus far this season.

    Hey, I wanted Chapman to be a starter too. I was adamant he should be a starter. But that ship has sailed, IMO. He's going to stick as a closer.
    He had the 4th best FIP amongst starters last year. So yeah, it was close to say the least.

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Blitz Dorsey View Post
    People seem to forget that there was no spot in the rotation for Chapman coming out of ST. So, he would have started the year at Louisville if he remained a starter. Leake was NOT on the bubble in spring training. He was the Reds' second-best starting pitcher last year and it wasn't even close. The "battle" was between Bailey and Chapman, and even though Chapman out-performed Bailey in ST, Bailey kept his spot in the rotation. And to Bailey's credit he's pitched well thus far this season.

    Hey, I wanted Chapman to be a starter too. I was adamant he should be a starter. But that ship has sailed, IMO. He's going to stick as a closer.
    Huh...I always thought you went with your 5 best starters, you didn't just say, "well, last year's 5 guys are back, so there's no spot for a better pitcher." Hilarious that Reds fans will accept that it's OK to go with a lesser rotation than what they could have just because all 5 starters from last year returned. Chapman could be special in the rotation; he's a great closer (so was John Smoltz) for now, but if he stays there much longer the Reds are going to have really blown up this kid's ceiling. I'm just glad the powers that be didn't do to Randy Johnson what the Reds are doing to Chapman. It's fun to watch him pitch, and I have even called him the Sandman recently, but it's a shame to pigeon hole him into that role when he has so much more potential.

    Bum

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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Chapman should have been in Louisville stretching his innings out at the first of the year.

    Right now the Reds can package a deal of Leake, Heisey, and a couple minor leaguers not named Hamilton, and could probably land a starting LF and a decent OBP bench player.
    “I think I throw the ball as hard as anyone. The ball just doesn't get there as fast.” — Eddie Bane

    “We know we're better than this ... but we can't prove it.” — Tony Gwynn

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    Party like it's 1990 Blitz Dorsey's Avatar
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Bumstead View Post
    Huh...I always thought you went with your 5 best starters, you didn't just say, "well, last year's 5 guys are back, so there's no spot for a better pitcher." Hilarious that Reds fans will accept that it's OK to go with a lesser rotation than what they could have just because all 5 starters from last year returned. Chapman could be special in the rotation; he's a great closer (so was John Smoltz) for now, but if he stays there much longer the Reds are going to have really blown up this kid's ceiling. I'm just glad the powers that be didn't do to Randy Johnson what the Reds are doing to Chapman. It's fun to watch him pitch, and I have even called him the Sandman recently, but it's a shame to pigeon hole him into that role when he has so much more potential.

    Bum
    Huh? I said I wanted Chapman as a starter. I was explaining the REDS' point of view. Hilarious that (very few) Reds fans have issues with reading comprehension. It was clear the Reds felt they had four starting spots locked up going into spring training. I don't agree with it, but it's a fact.

    Also, who said anything about "all five starters from last year returned"? Are you forgetting about the departure of one Edinson Volquez and the arrival of Mat Latos?
    Last edited by Blitz Dorsey; 07-20-2012 at 12:36 PM.

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    My clutch is broken RichRed's Avatar
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    More fun facts:

    Chapman has the same number of strikeouts this season as starters Erik Bedard, Trevor Cahill, and Aaron Harang.

    Despite being the Reds' closer, he's third on the team in strikeouts...ahead of Bailey, Leake, and Arroyo.
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    Party like it's 1990 Blitz Dorsey's Avatar
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    Re: Aroldis Chapman and history

    Quote Originally Posted by Homer Bailey View Post
    He had the 4th best FIP amongst starters last year. So yeah, it was close to say the least.
    Cueto had a better year than Leake in 2011. He is the only Reds' starting pitcher that could say that.

    Leake had a better 2011 season than Bailey.

    Leake: 3.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 167.2 IP.

    Bailey: 3.93 ERA, 1.31 WHIP in just 112 IP.

    1. Cueto
    2. Leake
    3. Bailey
    4. Arroyo
    5. Wood

    So, who are these mystery three pitchers that pitched better than Leake last year? Cueto and who else? Who are the other two?

    For the record, I think Bailey is better than Leake right now, but we're talking about just the 2011 season.
    Last edited by Blitz Dorsey; 07-20-2012 at 12:45 PM.


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