Call-Ups or Hang-Ups: Cincinnati Reds and Aroldis Chapman
By Wally Fish
Once again it is collaborative post time here on Call to the Pen. This month’s topic is September call-ups. To get the ball rolling, I posed the following question to each of our Lead Writers, “Which player do you want your team to call-up in September and why?” It is a simple question but I think you will find the responses to be very diverse.
Taking the path less traveled this month, I decided to post each team’s write-up individually instead of grouping them by league or division as we have done in the past. To mix things up further I decided to chime in with my own thoughts on each team.
Up 8th in our series is the Cincinnati Reds. Representing Blog Red Machine is one of the site’s Lead Writers, Steve Engbloom. Check out what he has to say after the jump.
Steve’s Take:
The two biggest young arms to hit the MLB scene this season were Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals and Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds. Strasburg has arrived and now it’s time for Chapman to surface and show MLB hitters some more juice.
I know I’m not the only one that wants to see Chapman. Most, if not all, Reds fans want to see this kid throw. Most of the comments I see on Twitter revolve around the possibility of his arrival in Cincinnati.
Everyone knows about Chapman and his triple-digit heater. He routinely hits trips on the radar, but the season didn’t start out so well for the young Cuban. After making 13 starts, the Reds brass had Chapman switched to the bullpen as Walt Jocketty and Company felt Chapman could better help the Reds coming out of the pen. Chapman was also experiencing control issues. The move has made every difference in the world. Consider these stats as proof of Chapman’s dominance as a reliever.
Starter: 5-5, 4.11 ERA, 1.523 WHIP, 76 K, 40 BB, .246 BAA
Reliever: 3-1 (8 SV), 2.40 ERA, 0.967 WHIP, 49 K, 12 BB, .156 BAA
Chapman’s K/BB ratio has increased from 1.522 as a starter to 4.083 as a reliever. While you’re at it, throw these stats in the mix, too. More ground outs (0.83 as a starter, 1.47 as a reliver), K/9 has increased by over 35% (10.42 as a starter, 14.7 as a reliver and BB/9 has decreased by over 30% (5.48 as a starter, 3.6 as a reliever). Chapman has not surrendered a run since August 8. In his last 10 outings, he has accumulated 6 saves while posting an ERA of 1.74. During that same time, he has 19 K and only 3 BB in 10.1 innings. I’d say he’s found his control and keeping the ball lower in the zone. 100+mph and low in the zone only leads to ground balls and K’s. Batters simply cannot lift that pitch and they cannot make a whole lot of contact either. That could prove to be a deadly combo if Chapman were to relieve, say, Bronson Arroyo.
It seems that Uncle Walt made an excellent choice in moving Chapman to the pen.
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My Notes:
First, I have to point out that Steve submitted the above on August 24th, though I have updated the stats he referenced. Second, it looks like Steve’s wish is about to come true based on the latest MLB.com entry from Jesse Sanchez.
Honorable Mention goes to RHP Carlos Fisher (27): 36.1 IP, 2.23 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 1.98 BB/9, 9.41 SO/9, 4.75 SO/BB