"Chapman was a blizzard of dominance in 2025. Already one of the greatest closers of his generation, Chapman posted career bests in ERA+, walk rate, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and WHIP, while posting the second-best hits-per-nine-innings rate of his career. He was outstanding. And yet... I'm not completely sold on him as we enter 2026. I was skeptical of him last year and he shoved it in my face, so feel free to ignore me."
"That's right: if Chapman is to be believed, the reason why he suddenly was able to control his fastball after 15 years in the big leagues was that... last year was the first time he tried to control his fastball? I don't know, I'm not really buying that. Chapman will be 38-years-old this year and everything I know about baseball tells me that last season will prove to be a statistical fluke."
MLB Network ranked relievers and listed two Red Sox among the top ten, placing Aroldis Chapman at number one. Chapman produced an outstanding 2025 with career-best figures in ERA+, walk rate, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and WHIP, plus one of his best hits-per-nine-innings rates. He appears to have fixed longtime control issues and dominated as a closer. Chapman claims the change came from finally trying to control his fastball after 15 years. Chapman will be 38 in 2026, and the combination of age and prior downward trends raises concern that 2025 might be a statistical outlier, creating bullpen uncertainty.
Read at Over the Monster
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]