Aroldis Chapman Solid In Debut For Cincinnati Reds

Back in January, the Cincinnati Reds surprised baseball by signing 22-year-old Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman to a six-year, $30.25 million deal. It was surprising because everyone figured Chapman would be in the middle of a bidding war between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

That was not the case and the Reds were aggressive in landing the left-handed phenom. Yesterday, the Reds unveiled their phenom to the entire world.

Chapman made his debut in a Reds’ uniform yesterday against the Kansas City Royals and was throwing darts. Chapman threw two scoreless innings and struck out three Royal hitters. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his outing was that he hit 100 mph on the radar gun three times.

Very Rob Dibble-like.

Chapman did give up a hit and a walk in those two innings, but overall, his performance was very impressive. It will be very interesting to see what the Reds do with Chapman as the season approaches.

Do they put him on the Opening Day roster and ease him in as a reliever or do they send him down to the minors and groom him as a starter? I say they they put him on the Opening Day roster and use him as a reliever.

By putting Chapman on the Opening Day roster, the Reds will accomplish a couple of things. First, by having Chapman in the bullpen, they can shorten the game to six or seven inning game.

Could you imagine being a team down 5-3 to the Reds in the seventh and then have to face Chapman for two and then Francisco Cordero in the ninth? That would be a nightmare.

Second, Chapman will have the opportunity to face major league batters without the pressure of closing. Pitching in the middle innings of relief is the best way to get acclimated to major league hitters and the overall speed and feel of the game.

The Toronto Blue Jays did this with Roy Halladay and the Minnesota Twins did this with Johan Santana. I think those two turned out just fine.

And one last note on Chapman and this game. Shame on the MLB Network for not airing this game yesterday. Chapman is the most hyped pitcher this spring next to the Washington Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg. Everyone wants to see what this kid has got.

The MLB Network should have aired his game, especially since everyone knew he was going to pitch on Monday. Bad job by them.

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