Aroldis Chapman: Is the Cuban Missile Heading for a Rick Ankiel Crisis?

Ah, the irony.

In Aroldis Chapman's first outing before a paid crowd, his very last pitch blew away Rick Ankiel. The same Rick Ankiel whose career Chapman may suddenly be emulating, unfortunately.

Meanwhile, Chapman has recorded only one out over his last three outings, covering 12 batters. He has walked nine.

Over his last four appearances, he has been charged with 10 earned runs in 1.1 innings.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, the Cincinnati Reds did place the young fire-baller on the 15-day DL Monday. So his recent problems may be injury related after all.

Still, it's difficult not to think of a guy like Ankiel when watching Chapman's recent inability to find the strike zone.

You remember Ankiel, don't you? He was also a hard throwing young left-hander on his way to stardom when wildness derailed that dream.

Now, Ankiel may never have thrown a 106 mile per hour fastball, but the parallels are eerily similar, though it is admittedly far too soon to put that unfavorable epitaph on Chapman's head stone.

If you recall, Ankiel had that infamous meltdown in the NLDS in 2000 while pitching for the Cardinals. He was sailing along with a big lead in Game 1 of that series until the third inning.

Suddenly, Ankiel walked four of the next eight hitters and uncorked five wild pitches. His throws were Bull Durham wild.

Ankiel followed up that performance by throwing five wild pitches and hitting three batters in his six starts in 2001.

People said he had The Thing—an unexplainable mental block that started with Steve Blass many years ago and somehow found its way into Ankiel's left arm.

The fact that Ankiel could also hit a baseball is the only saving grace for the former Cardinal, but what about Chapman?

Look, his recent struggles have not been nearly as dramatic as Ankiel's were, though Chapman has now walked nine of the last 12 batters he's faced, and his 20 walks in 13 innings is actually worse than Ankiel's 25 in 24. 

Still, listening to Reds manager Dusty Baker talk about his young gun does send déjà vu shivers down your spine, doesn't it?

I'm certainly not wishing this on the kid, but Ankiel eventually had Tommy John surgery and now Chapman is on the DL.

“He was wild high before and now he’s wild low,” Reds manager Dusty Baker told reporters after Chapman’s latest outing, as reported by aol.sportingnews.com.

I'm sure that Chapman isn't wild about that.

Please understand that nobody should be taking any pleasure in Chapman's sudden fall from grace, no matter whether you are a Reds fan or division foe. 

Heck, even Cardinals fans shouldn't take much solace in this for it emits too raw of a nerve for the faithful who remember the once shining promise of a young Ankiel.

And this too may pass, and perhaps Chapman will either get physically or mentally healthy again and his future will burn as brightly as it once did.

Chapman, from Cuba, was signed by the Reds to a six-year, $30.25 million deal in January 2010. He was called up to the Reds last Aug. 31 and finished the year 2-2 with a 2.03 ERA in 15 relief outings.

He was clocked as throwing the fastest pitch ever recorded in a major league ballgame, though accounts vary widely and significant questions remain over the actual speed of the pitch.

Now Chapman comes into a game with a seven-run lead in the ninth inning, faces five batters, walks four of them and all of them came around to score. That's not good.

The pitches may not be quite as wild as Ankiel or Blass, when you throw only five strikes in 23 pitches, it's cause for concern.

Chapman has now walked 12 guys in his last one and one-third innings of work. After awhile, it becomes as much mental as it is physical.

Maybe this respite on the DL will do as much good for Chapman's head as his arm. Let's hope the injury isn't serious and that he comes back with the same promise that he had when the season started.

For baseball needs kids like him. This transcends division rivalries; it is the human condition and we are all humans.

But what if things don't improve for Chapman, and he remains out of control? If that happens, I only have one question.

Can he hit?