Loading ...Our buddy Joe Posnanski (author of 2009′s must-read book, The Machine) had a chance to see Aroldis Chapman up close and personal yesterday. He wrote about it for SI, and you really want to click that link and read the piece. Let’s just say Poz was impressed.
And then: You watch Chapman pitch.
“I mean, holy cow,” says longtime Kansas City scout Art Stewart.
Holy cow, indeed.
(While we’re on the subject, sorta, go listen to the Redleg Nation Radio interview with Poz, if you haven’t listened yet. Or even if you have already listened, download it again. What are you doing right now? You aren’t too busy to listen to me! C’mon, what kind of a devoted fan are you?)
It’s great that he’s looked good and impressed people, but I sure wish they’d dial it back a notch.
Funniest part of the article: Two batters later Chapman struck out Rick Ankiel on a slider that Ankiel missed by so much he had to be rebooked on a later flight. Watching Ankiel trying to hit Chapman was somewhere between comedy and tragedy; you got the sense that if Ankiel faced Chapman 100 times, he would strike out 100 times.
And the scout compares him favorably to Herb Score, pretty impressive.
“Holy Cow”…I could not agree more. Chapman could very well be the real deal.
Gotta like the production from the outfield, I hope that forshadows what is to come tis season.
I sure hope Jocketty doesn’t get caught up in the growing Chapman hype and rush him into the rotation – He said last week that they were inclined to be conservative with Chapman…we’ll see. I think Chapman would benefit from some time @ Louisville or even Carolina….ok, Carolina for purely selfish reasons – Five County Stadium is about an hour from my house.
Also for selfish reasons, I want to see him in Louisville. But I agree that the hype has been a tad overblown. I want to hear about what the other guys are doing too, but all the coverage has been on Chapman. I’m excited about him, but don’t want to see them rush him. And I’m excited about other players too. This is the best time of year to be a Reds fans, still reason for hope.
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@Furniture City Red: http://redlegnation.com/2009/03/10/want-an-avatar/
It is kind of weird actually seeing articles about the Reds everywhere. When I brought up my yahoo page today it had a picture of Chapman and an article about the game. It is great that there is excitement around the team. While I am excited about what he brings to the table, I am excited about the team in general. Just cannot wait for the regular season to begin!
I saw the Chapman article on Yahoo! too. Of course, the first posted reply by a reader that I saw was “Reds fans, ya better hope that Dusty Baker doesn’t blow up his arm.”
*sigh*
Right. I’m mildly alarmed that the article implies that all the hype has been justified after two innnings of spring training… which is in fact, more hype. I know Pos probably doesn’t right the headlines, and he says that of course one doesn’t really know where this is going to go.
What we do know is that we weren’t sold a lemon (ahem, Majewski) in terms of tools/talent. He’s absolutely talented, but I do hope they bring him along with a modicum of restraint. On the other hand, where the Reds are concerned in the baseball world, there’s probably no such thing as bad hype.
My concern is workload. Let’s assume he IS the real deal, a franchise changing player with the ability to pitch you into and thru the playoffs. What kind of innings total would we be looking at? 180? 200? Is this in his best long term interest?
In a sense, it’s comparable to when Matsusaka came to the BoSox–a guy used to pitching once a week. He had a terrible 2nd half his first season because he wore down. That’s my biggest fear.
I don’t want to overstate how great I think Chapman will be this year, but I think we can at least say he’ll win 30 games, develop a viable fuel alternative for oil, and successfully bring back to life the frozen head of Ted Williams.
maybe it’s because I’ve been a Reds fan for so long but why am I paranoid about Chapman? Well maybe paranoid is not the word……
First, how did the Reds get him? I keep wondering, if he’s so good, then how did the cheap, small market Reds get him? How come Boston, NYY, Cubs, Mets, Angels, Houston, Dodgers or one of the other 100+ million dollar clubs?
Second, if I was ever worried about Dusty destroying the Reds it’s with Chapman. I think we should start a pool when Dusty blows out his arm.
sorry to be such a downer, I’m excited by all the Reds youth and excited about Chapman but something just doesn’t feel right. I’m not sure I can even remember the last good player the Reds signed. Can you? Lets just hope those recent “Reds interested in Gary Matthews Jr” rumors are just that, rumors.
He’s going to pitch in Cincinnati this season, and I think he’ll be just fine.
The Yankees didn’t sign Chapman because they were holding the line on payroll, and the Red Sox had other needs to fill on their ML club. Taking a $30 million flyer on a guy who might not be able to help this year wasn’t a good idea when they needed to acquire a veteran SP, 3B, SS and CF.
There’s a lot that went into Chapman’s decision, and a lot we don’t know. The Reds having a number of Latin players and coaches in their system had to help. Ramon as catcher and Dusty speaking Spanish helped.
It seemed like he didn’t want to go for a big city club, someone did a good job of presenting Cincy as a good place to live and play baseball, where he wouldn’t be as bombarded by media.
The Reds had to convince him that the recent years of losing are not what the organization is about, and the upcoming years look bright.
I don’t know how they did that, but they did. And it helps that he hasn’t grown up thinking that the Reds suck, he’d never heard of the Reds before coming here.
As far as Yankees and Red Sox, the Yankees committed a ton of money last year to Sabathia and Burnett. They’re still figuring out what to do with Hughes and Joba. They figure, hey if he’s really good we’ll buy him when he becomes available.
For the Red Sox, similar story. They shelled out a lot of money for Lackey, a proven commodity. And they paid a lot not so long ago just to talk with Matsuzaka. They have a deep starting rotation and don’t want to spend on a question mark.
There were and are questions about Chapman’s control, coachability, etc. His attitude seems great so far. But it’ s still a big risk the Reds took, other teams just weren’t as willing.
Perhaps the best thing about all the attention Chapman is getting is that Homer is under the radar for the national media, and he likes it there.
Absolutely!
Looks like genius on someone’s part.. but it may be just dumb luck.
agreed and I think this is good for not just Bailey
the Reds have a lot of youth that I could imagine the media would be focusing on that just get to go about their spring. Bruce (will he live up to his own hype), Stubbs (can he hit in the bigs), Cueto (can he put in a full season), Votto (how is he dealing with his anxiety, for lack of a better word) and of course Bailey
I just hope Chapman gets some room to breath
by the way, does this spring seem a bit different than past springs in that Dusty seems to be starting mostly his starting lineup every day? Where are those games with mostly the B team? I guess there was a B squad game a day or so ago but it’s had me wondering, is it because there are more televised spring games than ever before?? I know it’s early but Nix has only gotten 2 PA (not that I care), Janish, Fancisco, Frazier, Hanigan, Balentien and Alonzo only 2 PA.
Actually, his not speaking English should help him here.
As far as cultural adjustment goes, I think traveling by jet with other Spanish-speaking guys to big cities that might serve food he’s familiar with would be an easier adjustment than riding the bus with a bunch of 19-year-old Americans to small towns across the south or midwest and eating at McDonald’s.
@mike: I heard Nix was a little dinged up from crashing into a wall. Not sure about the other guys. You would think with the opening in the outfield these guys would get some quality number of at bats to see if anyone rises to the top.
It will be an interesting spring for a lot of clubs. There are some deals still to be made. If the front office feels like we have a real shot this season, I expect to add some payroll and a big bat. Could be part of why our projected regulars are seeing most of the early at bats, just to get a feel of what could be and what might be.
Balentien’s future is for sure in question. He has no options left as I understand so if the Reds don’t want him on the opening day roster something will need to happen.
The Twins have lost their closer Nathan for quite some time. Do you think we could deal Cordero to Minnesota? I would suggest for a shortstop, but they just got B J Hardy to replace one Orlando Cabrera.
I would rather see Chapman start the year in Louisville as a starter; and, if all goes well, move him to Cincinnati to the bullplen and some spot starts to end the year.
The Yankees had The Joba Rules, Should the Reds have The Chapman Rules? Does anyone know the kind of workload he is used to? How many innings does a starting pitcher throw a year for the Cuban National Team?