NO RELIEF ON CHAP WOES
Closer nearly blows another, gets hurts
Aroldis Chapman had already taken questions from the media, admitting he couldn’t argue if Joe Girardi decided to take him out of the closer’s role, and now he sat at his locker, still in full uniform, still sweating, just staring off into space. Teammates recognized the need for consoling. Chase Headley came over to pat him on the shoulder and say a couple of encouraging words. Chasen Shreve followed by throwing an arm around him briefly, and others made a point of giving him a quick pat on the head. Yet Chapman seemed inconsolable, hardly the vibe you’d expect from a closer who so often oozes swagger, even arrogance. After all, he’d managed to close out the 5-4 win over the Mets even after giving up a tworun home run to rookie Amed Rosario. Yet as teammates drifted away from him, Chapman draped a towel over his head and continued sitting, with his head down, for another few minutes before finally heading off into the back room, still in his uniform.
Obviously it wasn’t the home run to Rosario so much as the lack of dominance in recent outings, most notably the blown save against the Red Sox on Sunday night, that was eating at Chapman.
It’s safe to say the Cuban lefthander with the 104 mph fastball has never gone through something like this before, and can’t fathom why it’s happening.
“It’s been a difficult year for me and for my expectations,’’ he’d said through an interpreter minutes earlier. “I’m going through a rough patch here but you’ve got to keep fighting. You’ve got to keep trying to go out there and do your job.”
Chapman, who seemed amused only two night prior when asked about the possibility of losing his job as closer, didn’t so much as flinch at a similar question this time.
“I’m here to pitch,’’ he said. “As far as where I pitch, that’s not up to me. If at some point they need to remove me from the closer position, I’m always going to be ready and willing to pitch
here.”
Likewise, Joe Girardi wasn’t nearly as defiant as he was on Sunday night after the Red Sox loss, when he said Chapman would remain his closer.
This time he offered support but basically admitted he needed some time before making a decision.
“You re-think everything every day,’’ he said. “It’s too soon. The game just ended.”
It’s clearly time for a change, if nothing else than to give his closer a break mentally, but as it is, Girardi might have an easy out here since Chapman pulled up grimacing with hamstring tightness as he covered first base while getting the final out of game on a ground ball to first.
Afterward he made the case the hamstring wouldn’t cause him to miss any time, but Girardi admitted to being concerned.
“Leg problems are an issue,’’ he said. “You don’t want him changing his delivery to compensate (for the hamstring injury) because you can hurt you arm that way.”
Girardi said the Yankees would know a lot more on Wednesday about the state of his injury, but it would hardly be a surprise if they put him on the 10-day disabled list even as a precaution.
That would allow everybody to take a deep breath, and the Yankees’ bullpen is plenty deep enough without Chapman, whether Girardi uses Dellin Betances or David Robertson to close.
In any case, the closer saga sure stole some of the feel-good vibe created by Sonny Gray’s first home start, which featured six shutout innings before he gave up a two-run home run to Dom Smith in the seventh to end his night.
In three starts Gray has given the Yankees pretty much what they were hoping for, a No. 2-type starter that makes their rotation more October-worthy.
And the bulked-up bullpen continues to shine, yet there is no escaping the concern over Chapman.
He can’t throw his fastball by hitters the way he once did, even though he still hits triple-digits, and his answer to that on Tuesday night was to come out throwing 89 mph sliders, one after another.
Using it to keep hitters from cheating to his fastball makes sense, but the problem is the pitch itself is flat, with little break, and very hittable. When Chapman uses the slider sparingly it’s often effective simply because hitters are so geared up for his fastball, but when he throws it too often, it seems inevitable he’ll pay for it.
And when Rosario hammered one over the wall in right-center, Chapman looked nearly as disconsolate as he did in the clubhouse. He went to a crouch at the front of the mound as he watched the ball out, and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity until pitching coach Larry Rothschild came out to offer him encouragement.
Girardi admitted that was a bit concerning, but said, “If he didn’t care, I’d be more concerned. He’s searching right now.”