Just like starters, relief pitchers can go through bad streaks. Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is in a slump right now with a 5.93 ERA in his last 13 1/3 innings.
Unfortunately for the Yankees they may get burned having made Chapman the highest paid closer in baseball history.
Chapman hasn’t been the same since spending more than a month on the disabled list because of rotator cuff inflammation. His fastball has lost some of its velocity and he hasn’t been consistent with his secondary pitches. The result is 18 hits and eight walks during these last 13 1/3 innings.
This leaves me wondering did Joe Maddon permanently burn out Chapman by his horrendous overmanaging during this past World Series?
Here’s what Maddon did to Chapman during the last three games of the 2016 World Series:
In Game 5 on Oct. 30, Chapman went a season-high 2 2/3 innings throwing 42 pitches. I can excuse Maddon for that. The Cubs were down 3-1 in the series and Maddon had to do everything to win Game 5. Chapman held the Indians scoreless to nail down the 3-2 Cubs win.
I can’t excuse Maddon for what he did in Game 6 and 7 in regards to Chapman. Game 6 was played on Nov. 1. Maddon made Chapman pitch 1 1/3 innings with the Cubs holding a 7-2 lead. That’s just narrow-minded panic especially when you need to win Game 7.
The following day – Nov. 2 – Maddon brought Chapman in with a 6-3 lead. Chapman pitched three innings, throwing 35 pitches. Clearly gassed, Chapman gave up two earned runs on three hits and put the Indians back in the game. The Cubs bailed out Maddon by winning in the 10th inning to capture the Series.
Maddon gets a pass because the Cubs won. Otherwise, he would have been a goat for the ages by the way he overused his ace closer. You don’t make a world class sprinter run a marathon.
Chapman’s a pure flamethrower. Now he very well could be damaged goods. I blame Maddon for this.
On the handicapping front, I’m putting my unbeaten Canadian Football League record on the line in a big way today with a Triple Star play. I am 8-0 in the CFL this season and 20-7 for 74 percent going back to last season. I also have won 17 of my last 25 premium/free plays after splitting a pair of Thursday baseball underdog plays.
