Yankees need to replace Aroldis Chapman as closer, at least for now

After another close call last night, the Yankees can’t afford to keep handing save opportunities to Aroldis Chapman while he’s so obviously not at his best.

Entering the 2017 season, Aroldis Chapman wasn’t very high on the New York Yankees‘ list of potential problems. The flamethrowing left-hander was one of baseball’s most dominant relievers, coming off a World Series run with the Cubs and freshly signed to a five-year contract to return to the Bronx. Of all the things the team might have to worry about this season, the ninth inning surely wasn’t going to be one of them.

Fast forward to mid-August, and Chapman has turned into an increasing liability for a club locked in a tight playoff race. He owns a 3.89 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 3.06 K/BB ratio in 34.2 innings. He’s 16-for-20 in save opportunities (80 percent). Those numbers are certainly not typical Chapman: Over his first seven years in the majors, he boasted a 2.08 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 3.68 K/BB and 89.7 percent save conversion rate. His 18.6 percent swing-and-miss rate of a year ago has sunk to 12.4 percent.

Chapman began the campaign in convincing fashion, tossing 6.1 scoreless frames in seven appearances to start the year. Over the next 30 outings (28.1 IP), he’s managed an uncharacteristic 4.76 ERA. Chapman has gone through encouraging stretches where you think he’s turning the corner, but he always seems to hit another rough patch.

Right now he’s in a rough patch, and probably the most concerning one of the season so far. Chapman has allowed five runs on three hits and four walks over 3.1 innings in his last three appearances. He blew the save in an excruciating loss against the Red Sox on Sunday, serving up a game-tying homer to rookie Rafael Devers. Chapman didn’t blow the save last night against the Mets, but he came as close as he could. He allowed another home run to another highly-touted rookie in Amed Rosario, a two-run shot that tightened the final score to 5-4.

For as good as the Yankees’ bullpen has been this year, it’s also been a sore spot at times, particularly in terms of nailing down narrow victories. The team has 20 blown saves, tied for the second-most in baseball with Oakland. (Seattle leads with 22.) They’re just 14-21 in games decided by one run. The Yanks are 4.5 behind in the AL East and 3.5 ahead for the Wild Card. If they won only a handful more of those close games, they’d likely be on top of the division, or at the very least running away with a Wild Card.

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If the Yankees are serious about securing a spot in the postseason, they need to remove Chapman from the closer’s role, at least for now. With just a month and a half to go in the regular season, narrow losses are going to become even more deflating. And if any Yankees fan says they feel confident with Chapman coming in to protect a one-run lead right now, they’re kidding themselves.

Even Chapman himself seems open to the idea, and it wouldn’t have to be a permanent demotion. The club is obviously hesitant to make the move, not wanting to appear to admit defeat on its $86 million investment. But there is still plenty of time for the lefty reliever to get right and reclaim his spot in the ninth inning for the majority of his contract. Continuing to let him squander games in the immediate future – at the potential cost of a playoff berth – would only make that price tag taste more sour.

Granted, Chapman has faced some injury trouble this season. He logged a stint on the disabled list with rotator cuff inflammation, and appeared to hurt his hamstring running to first base to get the final out of last night’s contest. Chapman says he’s fine, but he looked in obvious pain and another DL trip shouldn’t be ruled out just yet. If that’s the case, it makes the situation simpler in the short term, but the Yanks shouldn’t be eager to hand him back the closer’s reins upon his return if he does spend some more time on the shelf.

Next: Wild card for Phillies' 2018 rotation

To make the decision even easier, the Yanks have two great replacement options with prior closing experience already in their bullpen. Dellin Betances experienced his own struggles earlier in the year, but seems to have put himself back on track (0 R, 3 H, 4 BB, 15 K in last 10 IP). David Robertson has also done a fine job since coming back to New York. The Yankees have the weapons, and it would be foolish to not use the most effective ones in the most important situations.