Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:20, 18 August 2012

Template:Spanish name 2

Aroldis Chapman
Chapman pitching for the Cincinnati Reds in 2010 spring training
Cincinnati Reds – No. 54
Relief Pitcher
Born: (1988-02-28) February 28, 1988 (age 36) Holguín Province, Cuba
Bats: LeftThrows: Left
debut
August 31, 2010, for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through August 18, 2012)
Win–loss record	10–7
Earned run average	2.30
Strikeouts	196
Saves	30
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2012) MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award (July 2012)

Aroldis Chapman

Medal record
Men's Baseball
Representing  Cuba
Pan American Games
	2007 Rio de Janeiro	Team
Baseball World Cup
	2007 Taipei	Team

Albertin Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-Andorran Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Chapman bats and throws left-handed. He is listed at 6'4" (193 cm) tall and weighing 195 pounds (88 kg). As of August 2012, he holds the record for the fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB history, after throwing a 105.1 mph (169.1 km/h) fastball in 2010. He was also clocked by one radar gun at 106 mph (170.6 km/h) in a later game, although this speed is disputed.

Chapman pitched for Cuba domestically in the Cuban National Series and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. He defected from Cuba in 2009 and signed a contract with the Reds in 2010. Chapman made his MLB debut that season. He won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award as the best relief pitcher for July 2012.

Cuban career

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009)

From 2006–2009, Chapman played for Holguín in the Cuban National Series. In 3272⁄3 career innings, Chapman compiled a 24–19 record, a 3.74 earned run average, and 365 strikeouts. He was used mainly as a starting pitcher, although he made 11 relief appearances in the 2007 season.

Chapman was part of the Cuban national team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

American career

Defection

After a failed attempt to defect in the spring of 2008, Chapman was brought to Havana to meet with Cuban President Raúl Castro who gave him a conditional reprieve, suspending him for the remainder of the National Series season and also keeping him off Cuba's national team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but allowing him to return to the National Series and play in the WBC.

A few years after Alexei Ramírez defected, Chapman successfully defected from Cuba while in Rotterdam, Netherlands where the Cuban national team was participating in the World Port Tournament on July 1, 2009; Chapman walked out the front door of the team hotel and entered into an automobile driven by an acquaintance. Gerardo Concepción defected from the Cuban national team in the same tournament. Chapman eventually established residency in Andorra and petitioned the MLB to be granted free agent status.

Cincinnati Reds

On January 10, 2010, Chapman agreed to a long-term contract with the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds announced that they had signed Chapman to a six-year contract, worth $30.25 million according to MLB sources. The Associated Press reported that the bonus totals $16.25 million, paid annually over 11 years, with an additional bonus if he becomes eligible for salary arbitration in 2012 or 2013.

Chapman began the 2010 season assigned to the Triple-A Louisville Bats, and made his professional debut with the Louisville Bats on Sunday, April 11, in Toledo against the Mud Hens, where he pitched 4.2 innings, giving up 1 unearned run, while striking out 9.

Chapman made his major league debut August 31, 2010, in the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers; his first pitch was clocked at 98 miles per hour (158 km/h) as a called strike (which was promptly tossed to the dugout by catcher Ryan Hanigan, to be saved) and in the same inning was measured at up to 105 miles per hour (168 km/h). In nine pitches he retired the side. He recorded his first major league win on September 1 after pitching an inning of relief against the Brewers.

In Game 2 of the 2010 NLDS vs the Philadelphia Phillies, Chapman allowed 3 runs (all unearned) due to miscues of the outfielders. Chapman would get his first career postseason loss and the Reds would lose the division series to the Phillies in 3 games.

2012 season

Chapman was due to be introduced as a starter for the 2012 season, but preseason injuries to closer Ryan Madson and middle relievers Bill Bray and Nick Masset led manager Dusty Baker to put Chapman in the setup role. Interim closer Sean Marshall struggled early in the season, and Chapman was given the closer role in late May.

On July 1, 2012 Chapman was named to his first All-Star Game. Chapman won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award for July 2012, in which he recorded 13 saves while not allowing a run in 14+1⁄3 innings while striking out 31 batters — more than 60% of the batters he faced. It was the third month of the season in which he did not allow a single run.

Pitching style

Repertoire

Chapman currently throws two pitches: a four-seam fastball at 96–101 mph and a hard slider at 87–90 mph. Chapman's heater averaged 100.3 mph in 2010, but that declined to 98.6 in 2011 and 97.8 through August 2012. This more modest speed may be part of an attempt to better control his fastball.

Both pitches have extraordinarily high whiff rates of 33% for the fastball and 58% for the slider. These have given Chapman a career strikeouts per nine innings rate of 14.66 as of August 2012, second all-time to Craig Kimbrel, and the third-highest career percentage of pitches for swinging strikes (16.5%).

Scouts worry about his control issues and lack of a solid third pitch, noting that these issues could affect his ability to be a major league starter. However, Chapman's control seems to have improved in the 2012 season. After issuing 41 walks in 50 innings, Chapman has only walked 14 batters in his first 57 innings of the 2012 season.

Speed records

According to MLB scouts, Chapman's fastball has been clocked as high as 105 mph (170 km/h) (during the 2010 minor league season), and in his second career appearance for the Reds Chapman threw a fastball clocked at 105.9 mph (170.4 km/h). In his first 19 career pitches, 10 hit triple digits and his fastball averaged 101.3 mph (163.3 km/h).

On September 24, 2010, against the San Diego Padres, Chapman was clocked at 105.1 mph (169.1 km/h), according to PITCHf/x, which is the fastest pitch ever recorded in Major League Baseball.

On April 18, 2011, Chapman threw a pitch to Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen that the scoreboard at Great American Ball Park clocked at a speed of 106 mph (171 km/h), although the box on Fox Sports Ohio's broadcast listed it at 105 mph (169 km/h) and the PITCHf/x system calculated a release speed of 102.4 mph (164.8 km/h). The disparity between these speeds has been widely discussed and questioned.

Mechanics

Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski described Chapman thus: "There is no violence at all in his motion; he's like the anti-Bob Gibson in that way. Just a slow beginning, a fluid motion, and BLAMMO the ball just fires out like the Batmobile rolling out of the cave." One scout noted that although "here are no obvious flaws in Chapman's delivery ... Chapman has to coordinate a lot of moving parts," which may limit his consistency. Chapman's extreme pitch speed may also pose an injury risk to his pitching arm over time.

Personal life

When Chapman defected, he left his father, mother, two sisters, girlfriend, Raidelmis Mendosa Santiestelas, and newborn baby, Ashanti Brianna. His father is a boxing trainer. In May 2012, it was reported that Chapman was being sued after he allegedly served as "an informant for Cuban state authorities after a failed defection attempt and helped turn in another man in order to get back on the country's national baseball team."

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players from Cuba
• Cincinnati Reds award winners and league leaders

References

1. "Aroldis Chapman, SP, International Player". USA Today. usatoday.com. Updated December 9, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ "Coveted Cuban defector Chapman establishes residency in Andorra". CNN. September 21, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
3. ^ Steve Henson (September 25, 2010). "Chapman throws fastest pitch ever recorded". Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
4. Sean Alfano (April 19, 2011). "Aroldis Chapman fastball controversy: Reds pitcher hits 106 and 105 mph on different radar guns". NY Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
5. Davenport, Clay (August 13, 2009). "Defection Alert". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
6. ^ Jose Arangue, Jr. (August 9, 2009). "New world of hope awaits Chapman". ESPN. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
7. Retrieved on 2009-07-02.
8. Enrique RojasESPNdeportesArchive (2012-01-18). "Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion declared a free agent, player agent says - ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
9. "Aroldis Chapman awaits ruling on MLB free-agency status - ESPN". Sports.Espn.Go.com. 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
10. "Sources: Cuban lefty Aroldis Chapman OKs deal with Reds - MLB News - FOX Sports on MSN". Msn.foxsports.com. 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
11. By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com (2010-01-10). "Cuban star Chapman joins Reds | MLB.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
12. "Cuban ace Aroldis Chapman inks 6-year deal with Cincinnati Reds - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2010-01-12. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
13. "Reds send Aroldis Chapman to Triple-A - MLB". nbcsports.msnbc.com. 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
14. By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com (2010-04-09). "Watch Chapman's US debut on Sunday | reds.com: News". Cincinnati.reds.mlb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
15. Roth, David (2010-09-01). "Chapman's 103-MPH Big-League Debut". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-01. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
16. "Reds' Aroldis Chapman debuts with four pitches topping 100 mph". Sporting News.com. 2010-08-31. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-01. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
17. "Reds' Aroldis Chapman perfect again, gets first victory". Sporting News.com. 2010-09-02. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-02. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
18. Jones, Todd (August 14, 2012). "Reds' Chapman is wizard of whiffs". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
19. Sheldon, Mark (May 20, 2012). "Chapman assumes closer's role, earns save". MLB.com. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
20. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120701/SPT04/307010048/Votto-Chapman-Bruce-named-All-Stars
21. "Chapman named Delivery Man of the Month winner". MLB. August 3, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
22. "Aroldis Chapman 2012 Pitching Splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
23. ^ "Brooks Baseball · Home of the PitchFX Tool - Player Card: Albertin Aroldis Chapman". Brooks Baseball. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
24. Fay, John (August 7, 2012). "BaseballAmerica.com: Majors: Best Tools: Reds' Aroldis Chapman Dominates With MLB's Best Fastball". Baseball America. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
25. "Major League Leaderboards » 2012 » Pitchers » Plate Discipline Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs. Retrieved 14 August 2012. Data goes back to 2002 season. Minimum 100 innings pitched.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
26. By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com. "Scouts see Chapman as rare package | reds.com: News". Cincinnati.Reds.MLB.com. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
27. Daugherty, Paul (April 27, 2012). "Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman on verge of stardom". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
28. "Aroldis Chapman Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
29. Arangure, Jorge (2009-03-15). "Cuba might be team to beat: Chapman, powerful lineup make Cubans a strong WBC contender". ESPN.com.
30. Pepin, Matt (2010-08-26). "Aroldis Chapman hits 105 mph". Boston.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
31. Passan, Jeff (2011-04-19). "Chapman's 106-mph fastball was likely bogus". Sports.Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
33. Eisenberg, Alex (November 19, 2009). "Aroldis Chapman: Everything You Need to Know". Baseball-Intellect. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
34. "A. Chapman piensa en Grandes Ligas para el 2010". Mlb.mlb.com. 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
35. "Chapman reportedly being sued for $18M | reds.com: News". MLB.com. Retrieved 2012-05-20.

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Template:CPSNPIT

Template:Persondata

• 1988 births
• Living people
• Cincinnati Reds players
• 2009 World Baseball Classic players
• Baseball players at the 2007 Pan American Games
• Cuban defectors
• Cuban expatriates in the United States
• Major League Baseball pitchers
• Major League Baseball players from Cuba
• Louisville Bats players
• Carolina Mudcats players