Time’s just not what it used to be

has four. Yankees’ back-end reliever Zack Britton has three.

Teams are spreading around the last three outs of the game. Just 11 pitchers had 30 saves in 2018, while 16 had 30 in 2016 and 21 reached that mark in 2015.

Aaron Boone knows it will be rare, but he doesn’t think Chapman will be the last of the breed.

“I think it’s possible. I still think the closer still exists for a lot of teams. When you are an elite player like Chappy, there is probably a chance of that still happening,” Boone said. “It does speak to his dominance and how great of a pitcher he has been and ability to stay healthy as well.”

In the first half of the season, Chapman has allowed seven earned runs over 34.2 innings with 50 strikeouts to record 24 saves over 37 appearances in the first half.

In July, however, he struggled mightily. Chapman allowed eight earned runs in just 8.2 innings pitched over nine appearances.

The 31-year-old Cuban has also had five blown saves, which ties his career high.

But Chapman is finding a way.

Tuesday night, he gave up a one-out single to Jonathan Villar and then had to work carefully around two runners because of Didi Gregorius’ fielding error.

But this is the type of moment he has always wanted to pitch in. It fits him.

“When you go in a game and you have to get the 25th, 26th and 27th outs of the game, it’s a unique experience, because everything that has happened in the game — the good, the bad — doesn’t matter,” Chapman said before Tuesday’s game. “Because right now the most important outs are those three and that brings a different level of stress adrenaline and energy.

“I like that challenge. Not every game is the same. Every time you find yourself trying to get those outs, it’s a different set of emotions depending where you are and who you are facing. I like that opportunity.”

It’s an old-school mentality that Chapman has embraced the role.

He takes pride in having the title and has dedicated himself to keeping it. That has meant incorporating more pitches when his onceblistering fastball lost a mile or two of velocity.

Now, he uses his slider as a strikeout pitch, as well as the high-velocity fastball. “Throughout my career, I have always had those other pitches. It’s just that I used them less before. But now, I’ve been able to perfect the slider, I’ve been able to control it much better,” Chapman said. “It has allowed me to mix pitches in a way that has given me really good results, keeping guys on balance and making it a tough at-bat for them, because they don’t know what is coming.”

Chapman wants to keep evolving and closing.