| 29 May 2010
According to an Associated Press story, Aroldis Chapman is close to making his debut with the Cincinnati Reds, which comes as no surprise to anyone who follows the team. Even though the Reds have never said it, the plan all along seemed to be "wait until June to call him up" due to the way his six-year, $30.25 million contract is constructed.
Through nine starts at Triple-A Louisville, Chapman is 5-2 with a 3.55 ERA (two poor starts really hurt his ERA). In 45.2 innings, he has struck out 55, walked 25 and given up 42 hits. According to the AP, he has reached as high as 103 MPH on his fastball this season. Once the lefty proves he can consistently hit 104 on the gun, then I think the Reds will really consider bringing him up. He also needs to work on never losing and mixing in a perfect game once in a while.
Beyond the numbers, Chapman appears to be adjusting well to American culture. (Shocking considering he is now a rich guy living in the USA, instead of a poor guy living in the opressed nation of Cuba.) The AP reports that, through an interpreter, Chapman said, "I think everything has been excellent. The adjustment has been easy."
Presuming Homer Bailey is healthy upon his return from the 15-day DL with shoulder inflammation, I'm not exactly sure whose place Chapman will take in the rotation. If Bailey is healthy, they aren't going to yank him from the rotation just yet. He hasn't blown anyone away this year (other than that one start against the Pirates when he threw a complete-game shutout) but the team will likely stick with him for the time being.
And what about Sam LeCure who had a very solid Major League debut on Friday getting the win in the Reds' 15-6 romp over the Astros? Does LeCure automatically go back to the minors? Well, if Bailey is healthy and Chapman is about to come up, the answer appears to be yes. However, LeCure will get at least one more chance (and probably two) to show that his debut was no fluke. So, if he is lights-out, there is always the chance LeCure will make GM Walk Jocketty and manager Dusty Baker to make a difficult decision. But chances are good LeCure will be back in the minors soon, no matter how well his cup of coffee in the majors goes.
There is always the chance Chapman will take Aaron Harang's spot in the rotation, unless the big, goofy righty gets things going soon. However, I can't imagine the Reds moving Harang to the bullpen just yet. He hasn't been that bad this year and there is still the chance he ends up having a solid year in the rotation. The days of anyone thinking Harang is a great pitcher are long gone, but he can still be decent for this team. That said, it's not completely out of the question that he will be replaced by Chapman if he gets rocked his next couple times out. Should be interesting to follow, but hopefully Harang is able to re-gain some of his old form and eat up a lot of innings (and gobble up some wins) the rest of this season.
Bottom line: Chapman, 22, is going to be a Red soon and that means he is going to take someone's spot in the rotation. I don't think they will use him as a reliever. There is a chance the situation will take care of itself and Chapman will just replace someone who gets injured. Or maybe Bailey isn't quite ready to come back and Chapman takes his spot (which, right now, is LeCure's spot). So, if I had to guess, I think it's Bailey's spot that's in jeopardy. Harang would be second on that list.
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