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Roller coaster ex-Pirates reliever is having absurdly dominant spring in Boston

ByEmma Lingan|
Sep 28, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (45) pitches against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Sep 28, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (45) pitches against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Last season, it took a second-half meltdown of epic proportions from David Bednar for Aroldis Chapman to earn the Pittsburgh Pirates' closer role. This year, he may earn the job with the Boston Red Sox right out of camp.

The 37-year-old, who spent last season revitalizing his career with the Pirates, signed a one-year, $10.75 million contract with the Red Sox in free agency and was expected to fill a role similar to the one he filled in Pittsburgh last year as a late-inning, high leverage reliever who could compete with other members of the bullpen to be the team's closer.

However, Chapman's dominant spring training performance has all but guaranteed him the closing role on Boston's Opening Day roster.

Over eight Grapefruit League outings this spring, Chapman has pitched to a 2.45 ERA and struck out 14 across 7 1/3 innings of work. He is still routinely hitting triple digits on the radar gun, too, even at age 37.

Ex-Pirates reliever Aroldis Chapman is having absurdly dominant spring in Boston

The Red Sox entered spring training with the expectation that Liam Hendriks – who hasn't appeared in an MLB game since 2023 due to non-Hodgkins lymphoma and Tommy John surgery – would slot into the closer role. But even Hendriks himself gave his endorsement to Chapman to take over the role instead.

“But if you want to talk about the guy who's looked the best in Spring Training, that's Chapman," Henriks said Thursday (via Ian Browne of MLB.com). "It's been unbelievable. He's been 97 to 100 [mph] pretty much every outing."

Red Sox manager Alex Cora has not yet made any official Opening Day roster decisions, but he will have to finalize his 26-man roster before March 27, when Boston begins its 2025 season on the road against the Texas Rangers. Whether he's the closer or not, Chapman will play a key role in the Red Sox's 2025 success. Boston's bullpen ranked near the bottom of the league in both ERA (4.39) and WHIP (1.34) last year.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, Bednar does not appear to have rebounded from his late-season meltdown last year. The Pirates are probably wishing they had shelled out the extra $250,000 to sign Chapman for another season right about now.

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