Inside The Pinstripes

Aaron Boone Not Ready to Use Aroldis Chapman in Tight Spots Yet

Chapman has had a disastrous season, tallying a 4.70 ERA over 36 games. He’s recorded just three outs over his last two appearances.

Gary Phillips

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Always an optimist, Aaron Boone can see Aroldis Chapman pitching in high-leverage situations down the line. But if the manager has a choice, he’ll stay away from the left-hander in tight spots for now.

That much is clear following three consecutive 4-2 wins for the Yankees. On Tuesday, Clarke Schmidt threw three innings out of the bullpen before Wandy Peralta recorded the last out against the Mets. On Monday, Ron Marinaccio and Jonathan Loáisiga handled relief duties in another Subway Series victory. Loáisiga and Peralta notched two outs before Lou Trivino tossed 2.1 innings on Sunday against the Blue Jays.

Chapman has not pitched since Aug. 19, when he picked up just one out while walking two and allowing an earned run in a 4-0 loss to Toronto. He only recorded two outs against the Rays on Aug. 17, an outing that saw him surrender two runs and two walks before the Yankees won, 8-7, in extra innings.

Despite those poor performances and what’s been a mostly difficult season for Chapman, Boone still believes the 34-year-old can be an impact reliever – if he gets his confidences back.

“I think he will be and can be,” Boone said Wednesday when asked if Chapman can be relied on for important situations. “We gotta still get him there, though. After a couple tough ones, we’ll see. On a given night, we’re going to have to. I do feel like there was a long stretch there where he was starting to pitch in some of those spots, whether it be the sixth, seventh or eighth, whatever it’s been. But we gotta get him back to that point after a couple ones where he struggled. So that’s kind of just trying to work on that confidence and get him in those situations. There’s going to be games where we have no choice.”

Just about everything has gone wrong for Chapman, an impending free agent with a 4.70 ERA, since the longtime closer started his season with 12 scoreless appearances.

After that stretch, Chapman allowed at least one earned run in five straight appearances. He then hit the injured list with an Achilles issue on May 24 and lost his closing role to Clay Holmes. When Chapman returned to the mound on July 2, he allowed two earned runs and walked three. Chapman mostly struggled in July, giving up seven earned runs over 9.1 innings.

The end of Chapman’s month and the start of his August gave the Yankees reason to hope, though. He pitched in nine games between July 26 and Aug. 13 and didn’t allow a run.

Then came the two games on Aug. 17 and 19.

Now Chapman needs to earn Boone’s trust again, even with Holmes and Scott Effross, another candidate to close, on the injured list. The Yankees, meanwhile, will keep mixing and matching in the ninth inning. They’ve used 11 different pitchers to record a save this season, a franchise record and the most in the majors.

Chapman has had multiple opportunities to reclaim his job, but he’s yet to put together a streak that is both long and convincing enough. The silver lining? Boone believes the southpaw is where he needs to be physically after battling an injury and mechanical issues.

“The one thing about him is physically, it’s there,” Boone said. “Physically we’ve seen it now in a long stretch. We gotta just get that next layer of confidence, especially when it gets a little wobbly there for a hitter or two, to be able to still find it.”

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Gary Phillips
GARY PHILLIPS

A graduate of Seton Hall, Gary Phillips has written and/or edited for The Athletic, The New York Times, Sporting News, USA Today Sports’ Jets Wire, Bleacher Report and Yankees Magazine, among others. He can be reached at garyhphillips@outlook.com.

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