Reds to call up Chapman in "next three weeks"

[oldschooler]

[size="5"][b]Chapman will be in Cincinnati soon[/b]
[/size]Posted on: June 25, 2010 8:33 pm

The [url="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/page/CIN"]Reds[/url] expect to bring up left-hander Aroldis Chapman to pitch out of the bullpen in "about three weeks" general manager Walt Jocketty told reporters on Friday.

Chapman, a Cuban defector, started in spring training and all of this season until this week when he came out of the bullpen in relief of [url="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/564090"]Edinson Volquez[/url], who could also be back in Cincinnati in the next couple of weeks.

Jocketty said the team still considers Chapman's future to be that of a starter, but he could help the team more as a reliever this season. The Reds entered Friday's game against the [url="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/page/CLE"]Indians[/url] a half-game out of first place in the National League Central. The Reds, 40-33, haven't had a winning season since 2000 and have made the playoffs since 1995.

"We still see him as a starter, but we feel this season he can help us as a reliever," Jocketty said.

Chapman has dazzled with his fastball that has reached 103 mph for Triple-A Louisville, but has struggled with his control, especially of his secondary pitches. His fastball, however, is electric and in short spurts, he could dominate even big league batters with that fastball.

There is still plenty of development left for Chapman who has shown signs of a very good curveball and slider, and has been working with former Red Mario Soto on a changeup. Chapman has yet to contain any of those pitches.

Chapman made his first relief appearance on Wednesday, allowing a run on two hits in two innings, while striking out two. For the season, Chapman has made 13 starts and appeared in 14 games, going 5-5 with a 4.12 ERA, striking out 79 and walking 41 in 67 2/3 innings.

Chapman may be used much like the [url="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/page/TB"]Rays[/url] used [url="http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/1232130"]David Price[/url] in 2008. Both are tall, lanky left-handers with a great fastball. Price was further in his development when he came up in 2008, but there are still similarities. The Reds would certainly like to have similar results, a short-term boost to the bullpen and a long-term boost to the rotation.


-- C. Trent Rosecrans



[url="http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/22799310"]http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/22799310[/url]

[The Scales]

AWESOME!

[JBandJoeyV]

A little update on Chapman...

He has pitched relief in 5 games. In those 5 games he has pitch only 1 inning twice, and more then 1 inning 3 times.

In all 5 games, he has been VERY good in the first inning he pitched. However, in the games where he has pitched a second inning he has given up 1 run twice in the second inning and 3 runs in the second inning in another game.

Based off stats and what ive read, he is dominant when he first comes in, then struggles if he stays in for a second inning.

[Jason]

[quote name='CJandRudiJ' date='07 July 2010 - 10:58 AM' timestamp='1278514711' post='896113']
A little update on Chapman...

He has pitched relief in 5 games. In those 5 games he has pitch only 1 inning twice, and more then 1 inning 3 times.

In all 5 games, he has been VERY good in the first inning he pitched. However, in the games where he has pitched a second inning he has given up 1 run twice in the second inning and 3 runs in the second inning in another game.

Based off stats and what ive read, he is dominant when he first comes in, then struggles if he stays in for a second inning.
[/quote]

Then let's not make him a long reliever.

[Bengals1181]

get Bailey and Chapman in the bullpen and lets roll.


This would be a pretty solid second half pitching staff:


Starters:

Arroyo
Harang
Volquez
Cueto
Leake/Wood (have them split games to limit Leake's pitch count)


Bullpen:

Smith
Masset
Rhoades
Cordero
Chapman
Bailey


Move Owings to the bench as a hitter and emergency bullpen guy.

The Leake/Wood thing is kind of off-the-wall but it will help preserve his arm. Let Leake pitch innings 1-4, and unless he's lights out, bring in Wood in the 5th inning to take over.

You have 4 guys in Chapman/Masset/Bailey/Cordero who can approach or top 100mph.

Bailey/Chapman can be emergency long relief guys, along with Owings.


I really like that. Granted, you can make a strong case for Ondrusek who's been absolutely lights out over his last 15 outings (15 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 strike outs). Would probably replace Smith with Ondrusek after looking at those stats.

[Jamie_B]

Isnt Volquez supposed to be starting today?

[JBandJoeyV]

[quote name='Bengals1181' date='07 July 2010 - 12:49 PM' timestamp='1278521348' post='896124']
get Bailey and Chapman in the bullpen and lets roll.


This would be a pretty solid second half pitching staff:


Starters:

Arroyo
Harang
Volquez
Cueto
Leake/Wood (have them split games to limit Leake's pitch count)


Bullpen:

Smith
Masset
Rhoades
Cordero
Chapman
Bailey


Move Owings to the bench as a hitter and emergency bullpen guy.

The Leake/Wood thing is kind of off-the-wall but it will help preserve his arm. Let Leake pitch innings 1-4, and unless he's lights out, bring in Wood in the 5th inning to take over.

You have 4 guys in Chapman/Masset/Bailey/Cordero who can approach or top 100mph.

Bailey/Chapman can be emergency long relief guys, along with Owings.


I really like that. Granted, you can make a strong case for Ondrusek who's been absolutely lights out over his last 15 outings (15 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 strike outs). Would probably replace Smith with Ondrusek after looking at those stats.
[/quote]

Bailey wont be back till August at the earliest, so you would probably just replace him with Ondrusek and then figure something out when Bailey gets back. Ondrusek has been great.

owings doesnt work as a bench player though, he isnt THAT good of a hitter. He is the long relief and occasional PH guy.

And you cant keep 6 starting pitchers either. You either ship out Harang when hes healthy or you send wood back down. You have one of your long guys (bailey if hes in the bullpen) make occasional starts for leake instead of keeping 2 5th starting pitchers.


So what I would do, assuming no trades are made or anything.

Starters
Arroyo
Cueto
Volquez
Harang
Leake

Bullpen
Ondrusek
Smith
Masset
Chapman or Bray (wait a couple more weeks see how each is doing and make a decision. Dont think we really need 3 LH relief pitchers). Dont need to rush chapman though if Bray is pitching solid.
Owings
Rhodes
Cordero

Then if Bailey gets healthy you have two options, put him in the pen, or put Harang in the pen. When that happens you replace whoever the low man on the poll at RHP is (probably Smith, but could be ondrusek too). Then you occasionally let the bullpen guy whether its Bailey or Harang make a few starts here and there for Leake to keep his innings down.

Odd man out here is Travis Wood. He has pitched solid in his first two games, but unless you trade Harang or Harang/Volquez dont come back solid, then theres just no room for him now. But hes probably the first guy up if someone gets hurt or if Volquez doesnt make a full comeback.


And finally what Id try to do if I was GM.

Trade Alonso and another prospect, Wood if we have to, for Lee. Then also find a team willing to take on Harang if possible.

Then you have essentially the same bullpen with a starting rotation of:
Lee
Arroyo
Cueto
Volquez
Leake

With bailey as the bullpen/spot starter for leake.

Then even if Leake walks after this year, you still have Cueto, Volquez, Leake, and Bailey...then if you think Chapman is ready to start you put him in there too, or you find another 5th starter or even resign Arroyo.

I think we would be the favorites to not only with the central but the NL as well. And as i heard from lance mcallister, you dont choose the years your contend they just happen. And when you have the chance, take advantage. I dont care of Lee is just a rental, you probably just have to get rid of a solid prospect that is blocked and a solid prospect at a position of strength. Id do it.

[quote name='Jamie_B' date='07 July 2010 - 12:51 PM' timestamp='1278521460' post='896125']
Isnt Volquez supposed to be starting today?
[/quote]

No...its possible you could see him starting Sunday, but my guess is he'll start after the all star break at somepoint.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='CJandRudiJ' date='07 July 2010 - 01:42 PM' timestamp='1278524553' post='896130']
Bailey wont be back till August at the earliest, so you would probably just replace him with Ondrusek and then figure something out when Bailey gets back. Ondrusek has been great.

owings doesnt work as a bench player though, he isnt THAT good of a hitter. He is the long relief and occasional PH guy.

---------
And finally what Id try to do if I was GM.

Trade Alonso and another prospect, Wood if we have to, for Lee. Then also find a team willing to take on Harang if possible.





[/quote]



all around, Owings offers you more on the bench than Heisey IMO.


And trading Alonso/Lee (plus probably another prospect) for Lee is just dumb IMO. Not denying Lee's talent, but starting pitching isn't a big issue for the Reds. At this point, they have more arms than spots. He's not nearly a big enough need to give up two of your biggest prospects for a guy who's going to be gone in 3 months. And from what I hear, its not like the last two years when he was traded he was given up for top prospects.

[JBandJoeyV]

[quote name='Bengals1181' date='07 July 2010 - 02:15 PM' timestamp='1278526508' post='896143']
all around, Owings offers you more on the bench than Heisey IMO.


And trading Alonso/Lee (plus probably another prospect) for Lee is just dumb IMO. Not denying Lee's talent, but starting pitching isn't a big issue for the Reds. At this point, they have more arms than spots. He's not nearly a big enough need to give up two of your biggest prospects for a guy who's going to be gone in 3 months. And from what I hear, its not like the last two years when he was traded he was given up for top prospects.
[/quote]

Owings offers more out of the bullpen...owings does NOT offer more on the bench. Owings isnt a good hitter, he is a good hitting pitcher with some pop. You keep your bench spots for guys to make spot starts every now and then, to come in as defenisve subs, and to pinch hit. Heisey can do all those pretty well. You dont keep a spot on the bench of a pitcher to pinch hit every now and then. You keep him in the bullpen if there is room for him, but not on the bench. Two different things.

And I disagree on the Alonso/Wood deal. Alonso is blocked in this organization, he probably will never play for the reds. Hes gonna have to get traded at some point. And we have plenty of depth at young pitching, and there is no guarantee wood will ever be a great pitcher. There might not even been room for him in the next couple years due to the amount of talent we already have.

We would be the favorites in the NL. Obviously no guarantee to make the world series, but I think when you are a small market team and you have the chance to win it all, you take it, cause those opportunities dont come around too often.

Now obviously if we could get Lee for something less then Alonso and Wood, im all for it, but Id very strongly consider doing the trade for those 2 guys.

[claptonrocks]

[quote name='CJandRudiJ' date='07 July 2010 - 02:58 PM' timestamp='1278529134' post='896157']
Owings offers more out of the bullpen...owings does NOT offer more on the bench. Owings isnt a good hitter, he is a good hitting pitcher with some pop. You keep your bench spots for guys to make spot starts every now and then, to come in as defenisve subs, and to pinch hit. Heisey can do all those pretty well. You dont keep a spot on the bench of a pitcher to pinch hit every now and then. You keep him in the bullpen if there is room for him, but not on the bench. Two different things.

And I disagree on the Alonso/Wood deal. Alonso is blocked in this organization, he probably will never play for the reds. Hes gonna have to get traded at some point. And we have plenty of depth at young pitching, and there is no guarantee wood will ever be a great pitcher. There might not even been room for him in the next couple years due to the amount of talent we already have.

We would be the favorites in the NL. Obviously no guarantee to make the world series, but I think when you are a small market team and you have the chance to win it all, you take it, cause those opportunities dont come around too often.

Now obviously if we could get Lee for something less then Alonso and Wood, im all for it, but Id very strongly consider doing the trade for those 2 guys.
[/quote]


agree..if you an get a Lee for Wood/Alonso you just do it....
Might mean a world championship

[|Bunghole|]

[quote name='claptonrocks' date='07 July 2010 - 03:48 PM' timestamp='1278532093' post='896174']
agree..if you an get a Lee for Wood/Alonso you just do it....
Might mean a world championship
[/quote]

I'm in this camp now. Prospects are not guaranteed MLB players, Cliff Lee is a known (and really good) MLB commodity. We DO need starting pitching still. Harang has been really uneven and is on the DL, there's zero guarantee that Volquez will be his 2008 self and Bailey is going to come back too late in the year. I'd give them Wood and Alonso in a heartbeat for Cliff Lee, even if we couldn't sign him to a multiyear deal. With our offense we'll still be a contender in the foreseeable future.

[Jason]

My only concern about Lee is our performance against him in Seattle. We hit a lot of balls off him that would have been out of GABP. He wouldn't be another Eric Milton, would he?

But given Votto's talent, and Alonso's apparent inability to play LF, I wouldn't be opposed to giving up Alonso for Lee.

[Jason]

Oh, and this is Aaron's last year. Although there is an option year for $12.75M or a $2M buy out.

[oldschooler]

[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2010/07/15/when-will-be-see-chapman-september-is-the-guess-here/"][b][size="5"]When will be see Chapman? September is the guess here[/size][/b][/url]
Posted by [email="johnfayman@aol.com"]jfay[/email] July 15th, 2010, 12:00 pm

Edinson Volquez is about to make his 2010 big league debut. The plan was for Aroldis Chapman to follow shortly.I’m not so sure you’ll see that happen any time soon. For two reasons: a) No one in the bullpen is struggling to the point where they warrant a demotion; Chapman has been spotty since the move to the bullpen.

“He’s got electric stuff,” said Ryan Hanigan, who caught Chapman when Hanigan was on rehab at Triple-A Louisville. “He’s throwing real hard with the fastball, slider. He’s mixing in other pitches every once in a while. He’s working on command of the strike zone, throwing as many strikes as he can. When he does that, he’s almost unhittable.”

The problem is on the days Chapman doesn’t have command he’s mediocre. He is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA since the move to bullpen. Three of his seven outings have been ugly.

That has to be the concern inside the organization about Chapman. When he’s on, he’s confident and aggressive in the strike zone. When he’s not on, he tends to back off his fastball and not challenge hitters.

When things are going bad, he almost withdraws.


(Click the link below for the entire article)


[url="http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2010/07/15/when-will-be-see-chapman-september-is-the-guess-here/"]http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2010/07/15/when-will-be-see-chapman-september-is-the-guess-here/[/url]

[|Bunghole|]

Well, that kinda sucks. Was hoping he'd do better and we'd seem him in the bigs soon.

[Bengals1181]

Fay seems to think Volquez will start for the Reds Saturday.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2010/07/14/a-theory-on-why-volquez-is-throwing-harder/

[oldschooler]

[b][url="http://twitter.com/LanceMcAlister"][color="#0a0501"]LanceMcAlister[/color][/url][/b] [url=""] [/url] Aroldis Chapman dominates: 1.1 innings. striking out all four batters, throwing 12 of his 14 pitches for strikes. He hit 102 mph.
[url="http://twitter.com/LanceMcAlister/status/18761132418"]about 1 hour ago[/url] via web

[ThurmanMunster]

[quote name='oldschooler' date='17 July 2010 - 08:13 AM' timestamp='1279372403' post='897383']
[b][url="http://twitter.com/LanceMcAlister"][color="#0a0501"]LanceMcAlister[/color][/url][/b] [url=""] [/url] Aroldis Chapman dominates: 1.1 innings. striking out all four batters, throwing 12 of his 14 pitches for strikes. He hit 102 mph.
[url="http://twitter.com/LanceMcAlister/status/18761132418"]about 1 hour ago[/url] via web
[/quote]


good to hear but i still really wish they would just leave him alone and let him work as a SP only. why fuck with a 30 million dollar phenom investment?

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='ThurmanMunster' date='17 July 2010 - 05:54 PM' timestamp='1279403689' post='897445']
good to hear but i still really wish they would just leave him alone and let him work as a SP only. why fuck with a 30 million dollar phenom investment?
[/quote]



because you're in a pennant race, you have a very crowded rotation that won't be any less crowded next year, you're bullpen could use help, and its tough to trust your closer these days. If you can successfully add an arm to the bullpen that can throw 102mph, you do it.

Hell, Chapman may have a better future on the team as a future replacement to Cordero than to the rotation which has a lot of young talent in Volquez, Cueto, Leake, Wood, Bailey, Maloney and a possible vet in Arroyo.

[Inigo Montoya]

[quote name='ThurmanMunster' date='17 July 2010 - 05:54 PM' timestamp='1279403689' post='897445']
good to hear but i still really wish they would just leave him alone and let him work as a SP only. why fuck with a 30 million dollar phenom investment?
[/quote]


How is pitching in the big leagues a bad thing? Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt, and a number of other great starting pitchers began their careers in the bullpen. The way I see it, since the Reds are already paying Chapman big bucks and don't have to worry about starting the clock for arbitration, they might as well get whatever they can out of him right away. He is clearly one of their most talented pitchers and they need help in the bull pen.

[claptonrocks]

[quote name='Inigo Montoya' date='18 July 2010 - 02:31 PM' timestamp='1279477918' post='897524']
How is pitching in the big leagues a bad thing? Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt, and a number of other great starting pitchers began their careers in the bullpen. The way I see it, since the Reds are already paying Chapman big bucks and don't have to worry about starting the clock for arbitration, they might as well get whatever they can out of him right away. He is clearly one of their most talented pitchers and they need help in the bull pen.
[/quote]

agree but what Id like to see is a duo....

Pitch Leake say 5 innings and bring in Chapman for the remainder if possible..
both get in a regular rotation and not overwork either.....
Maybe Leake can go 70-75 pitches and let chap finish it.

[JBandJoeyV]

[quote name='claptonrocks' date='19 July 2010 - 05:49 PM' timestamp='1279576157' post='897695']
agree but what Id like to see is a duo....

Pitch Leake say 5 innings and bring in Chapman for the remainder if possible..
both get in a regular rotation and not overwork either.....
Maybe Leake can go 70-75 pitches and let chap finish it.
[/quote]

Thats a good idea in theory...but would it be difficult for him to prepapre to pitch 3-4 innings relief one day a week, then be ready to pitch an inning here and there in other games?

Also what do you do if Leake is pitching great? Do you take him out still or leave him in there and try to find chapman innings in other games?

[JBandJoeyV]

In Chapmans last 9 games hes gone:

10 1/3 IP 6 hits 4 walks 15 Ks 0 ERs 3 wins and a Save too


I think hes ready...only thing is who do you send down? Bray?

[Bengals1181]

He had a pretty good outing yesterday apparently.


Walt said he's going to be up soon.

[JBandJoeyV]

Chapman had another pretty good inning yesterday getting a save in LOU. Bring him up soon.