Aroldis Chapman made his debut in the minor leagues Sunday afternoon for the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Pitching against the Toledo Mud Hens, the minor league team of the Detroit Tigers, Chapman heated up the radar guns in his 4 2/3 innings of work, hitting 101 mph several times. He finished the day throwing 85 pitches, allowing no earned runs on five singles and one walk while striking out nine.
Throwing 55 of his 85 pitches for strikes, Chapman reached back and hit 99 mph or more ten times in the game. He also worked in some sliders and change ups but was able to dominate for the most part on the basis of his fastball. Despite walking only one batter, he still needs to tighten up his control as major league hitters won’t be flailing at some of those pitches out of the strike zone like a few of the minor league hitters were.
With the performance by Cincinnati Reds 5th starter Mike Leake on Sunday, there is no need to rush Chapman to the major leagues, unless Reds manager Dusty Baker blows Leake’s arm out by then as Leake threw 106 pitches in his first major league start.
From a fantasy baseball perspective, Chapman’s ascent to the major leagues could follow a similar pattern to that of Stephen Strasburg from the Washington Nationals. While the Reds have not set a timetable or innings limit on Chapman as of yet, there is really no need to promote him before June 1, unless an injury occurs to one of the current Reds starters. It will also give Chapman some time in the minor leagues to work on improving his mechanics and control so he is ready when he arrives in the big leagues.
