Aroldis Chapman still didn’t look like his historically dominant self from earlier in the season, but he looked much sharper than his June self on Tuesday night, which is a welcomed sign for Aaron Boone and the Yankees.
“Another really good step forward,” Boone said after Chapman picked up the save in the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Phillies. “He threw the ball really well. To fall behind 3-0 to [Bryce] Harper and then make some really good pitches against him was huge.”
It looked like the lefty might be doomed to repeat his maddening struggles with command when he started the ninth inning with three straight pitches out of the zone to Harper, but he followed with four straight strikes, the fourth a sharp slider in the zone that fooled Harper for a big strikeout.
Then, a brief hiccup on a solo home run to the red-hot Andrew McCutchen, and Chapman quickly refocused and looked like the Chapman of April and May.
“Cutch put a good swing on him,” Boone said. “Three-run game, you tip your cap a little bit, but then it was right back to, I think he really got locked into his delivery, pounded the zone, we saw the velocity up, overpowered Hoskins and then the same with Didi.”
Chapman dialed up the heat after the McCutchen home run, blowing away Rhys Hoskins with three straight fastballs, all coming in with a velocity of at least 100 mph, including the strikeout pitch, which came in at 103 mph. Former teammate Didi Gregorius was next, and again, Chapman fired three straight heaters, all above 100 mph, to fan Gregorius and strike out the side for a much-needed rebound.
“I thought he got into a really good place with his delivery, and the stuff was there,” Boone said. “Very encouraging.”
The velocity was certainly there, while the slider to Harper looked sharp as well. Perhaps most encouraging were the six straight fastballs that did not just have peak Chapman velocity attached to them, but were competitive pitches either in the zone or on the periphery. The absence of command with his fastball was one of the reasons Chapman looked completely lost on the mound in June, but as it has started to return, so have the results. In his last four outings, the home run to McCutchen is the only run Chapman has allowed, and he hasn’t issued a walk in his last two appearances.
For Boone, it is encouraging enough to put Chapman firmly back in the closer role. The lefty was the only reliever warming on Tuesday night, and it will remain that way from here on out in save situations.
“I’ve been there now for his last few outings,” Boone said. “If there’s a closing situation, Chappie is closing it. If we’re gonna be the club we hope to be and get to where we want to go, Chappie has got to be the guy out there. We’ve got to get him going, and I think these last few outings, he’s starting to get back to where he was. He’s closing.”
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