The Yankees bullpen got a much-needed boost on Wednesday, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters that closer Aroldis Chapman has been activated from the 10-day IL.
The lefty reliever last pitched on Aug. 5 before being shut down with elbow inflammation, often a concerning diagnosis. But for Chapman, Boone stressed that the move was more out of caution, and Chapman is ready to go.
“I think right away we felt pretty good with what we were dealing with in the elbow, we just took the conservative approach of giving it a few days to calm down,” Boone said. “I think that served us well, and we feel good where he’s at coming out of his bullpen. We felt like he was settling in to being the Chappy we know.”
After a brutal stretch at the end of June, Chapman did seem to be returning to form, as over his last 11 innings, he had allowed just one run while striking out 19 compared to eight walks. On the season, he holds a 3.63 ERA with 68 strikeouts over 39.2 innings of work.
Chapman joins a bullpen that has been full of established arms struggling of late, including Zack Britton and, at times, Chad Green. Jonathan Loaisiga appeared to be the most reliable reliever to close games while Chapman was out.
Boone added that Chapman will return to the closer role.
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