Ace closer Aroldis Chapman had been having an excellent spring … until the big bad Orioles got their claws on him Friday night in Tampa. Brought in to start the seventh inning, the Yankees veteran unraveled in spectacular fashion, melting down to the tune of three hits, three runs, a walk and three wild pitches, stuffing that horrendous stat line into only a third of an inning. Chapman’s collapse would be the difference in the game with Baltimore winning by a final count of 4-1, dropping New York’s record to 13-10 in Grapefruit League play.
The hard-throwing left-hander was unusually erratic Friday night, finding the strike zone on just 12 of his 23 pitches. Plagued by nonexistent command, Chapman began his ill-fated outing yielding consecutive hits to Rio Ruiz, Austin Hays and Freddy Galvis (not exactly the ’27 Yankees), the latter staking runners on second and third with no outs. Things only got worse from there with Chapman plating Hays and Jordan Westburg (who came on to pinch-run for Galvis) on wild pitches to extend the Orioles’ lead to 3-0. At that point, manager Aaron Boone decided he had seen enough, summoning reliever Nick Goody (now in his second stint with the Bombers) from the Yankees’ pen.
Friday’s nightmare at the hands of Baltimore, an opponent the 33-year-old has traditionally dominated (0.34 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 27 regular-season encounters), decimated Chapman’s spring ERA, which now stands at a ghastly 6.23. However, Chapman had been cruising prior to Friday’s setback, submitting a pristine 0.00 ERA over four hitless appearances against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Chapman’s signature velocity can often work as a double-edged sword. When the 6’4” stallion is painting corners with his triple-digit heat (though his fastest offering Friday only registered at 99 mph), he can be as overpowering as any pitcher in the big leagues. But when his fastball location goes awry, the result can be disastrous with Friday night serving as a stark reminder of just how ugly things can get for Chapman when he’s not hitting his spots.
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