New York Yankees: Aroldis Chapman ready to reclaim closer’s role?

Although his second stint with the New York Yankees is off to a bit of a rocky start, Aroldis Chapman may be ready to reclaim the ninth inning.

After six dominant seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Yankees were able to acquire flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman prior to the start of the 2016 campaign. Chapman went 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA and racked up 20 saves for the Yankees before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs and helped the North Siders win their first World Series since 1908.

Over this past offseason, Chapman was part of an elite class of free agent closers, which also included Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon. In a move that is somewhat rare, Chapman returned to the Yankees, the team that traded him, on a massive five-year, $86 million deal.

Quite surprisingly, however, Chapman has not been having his typical season in 2017. Last month it was announced that he was to be removed from the closer’s role. At the time, he was coming off a four-game stretch in which he surrendered seven earned runs over 4.1 innings pitched. That said, Chapman has been pitching better of late and may soon be the Yankees’ ninth-inning man once again.

The return of vintage Chapman?

According to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has now suggested that Champan’s recent success may be a signal that he is ready to move past his struggles from earlier in the season. Chapman has made two appearances thus far in the month of September, allowing just one hit and striking out four over two innings of work. As Hoch also writes, Chapman’s signature velocity has looked quite healthy earlier this week as well:

"His nine fastballs in Tuesday’s 11-pitch appearance averaged 101.4 mph, maxing out at 102.6 mph.More from Call to the PenPhiladelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis CardinalsPhiladelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount RushmoreBoston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ commentAnalyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals"

For the season, Chapman’s ERA still sits at 4.02, which is high enough for a closer, let alone a reliever of his caliber. If his ERA were to stand, it would mark a new career-worst. The highest ERA of Chapman’s career is 3.60, which he set during his first full season in 2011. Chapman has posted an ERA of 2.00 or lower in each of the past three seasons.

However, there are still a few encouraging signs for Chapman this season, such as his 2.89 FIP and the fact that he is still averaging well over a strikeout per inning at a rate of 12.50 K/9.

Ever since the success of the Kansas City Royals‘ mega-bullpen with Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland, many teams seemed to have tried to fashion a similar relief corps in recent years. There are certainly plenty of good arms in the Yankees’ bullpen with Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson, Dellin Betances and, of course, Chapman.

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On paper, the Yankees could certainly have a super bullpen that could carry them deep into October, but they will need Chapman to pitch the way he is capable of.