Cincinnati Reds to consider all options before assigning role to Aroldis Chapman – MLB News
While the debate on the potential role of Aroldis Chapman continues, the Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker said on Monday, December 3, that the club would consider all options before making the final decision.
The reluctance to divulge the exact details is understandable given the inclinations of teams to keep the suspense unextinguished and undiminished until the last moment.
"He could very well be my best starter and my best reliever," Baker said. "So I'm sure that he'll do whatever you ask him to do. He would probably prefer to start, but last year we were preparing him as a starter and there was much debate about whether to send him to the Minor Leagues to start or not.”
Last month, the Reds signed a three-year contract with Jonathan Broxton which was seen as a potential move to bring Chapman to rotation. Broxton’s role was to be the club’s closer after he was sensationally successful as setup pitcher.
Spring Training is where the Reds will have an opportunity to find out if Chapman could use his secondary pitches. As closer, he has been fairly successful in using three-digit velocity pitches, coming down hard on the batters. If any evidence is required to establish that dominance, his 38 saves out of 43 chances speaks quite eloquently for that.
To see the secondary pitches working and working well, it is Bryan Price – the Reds' pitching coach, who will have responsibility on his shoulder to handle it.
All said, Dusty Baker – nonetheless, dropped a hint that Chapman could be used as both a starter and closer.
Baker said, “Emphatically, some of us wanted him in the big leagues, and he ended up being the setup man and ended up being a closer. So we'll have to see. Right now, we have six starters and Chapman could possibly be one of them, or he could be our best closer.”
The past season, the Reds' rotation and bullpen remained best in the National League Central. They were among best in the National League as a whole. That very performance, the Reds hope, will be repeated in the coming season as well.
Tags: