There's been more than enough to talk about at Boston Red Sox spring training this year. As if welcoming a new ace in Garrett Crochet wasn't enough, the team signed infielder Alex Bregman at the start of camp, the perfect righty complement to their lefty-heavy lineup — you know, just as long as Boston brass could convince Rafael Devers to make room for him. Add in three of the very best prospects in the sport all banging down the door for roster spots, and there's not much room for anything else.
But there is, of course, much more to fielding a competitive baseball team than one pitcher or one infielder or some (admittedly awesome) young guns. And for as loaded as this Red Sox team looks on paper at the start of the season, there is one significant cause for concern at the back end of the bullpen.
This was a bit of a problem last season as well, one that Boston only half-heartedly tried to address over the winter by signing Liam Hendriks and Aroldis Chapman in free agency. But Hendriks has, perhaps predictably, struggled all spring as he continues to make his way back from a series of health challenges. That's put Chapman into the closer's role more or less by default, and while that might sound fine on the right day, fans of the Red Sox' arch rival will be all too happy to tell you that it comes with some downsides as well.
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Red Sox playing with fire with Aroldis Chapman as closer
To be clear, Chapman has more or less looked the part so far in Boston. He's allowed just three hits and two earned runs over 7.1 innings of work this spring, with a gaudy 17.2 K/9 thanks to stuff that remains as electric as ever. Especially coming from the left side, most teams would kill for that sort of upside in their bullpens.
But this is Chapman we're talking about, and by now we know the drill. He was just okay with the Pittsburgh Pirates last year, with a 111 ERA+ thanks to a sky-high walk rate (39 passes over 61.2 innings). So far in spring training, the lefty has ... five walks in just eight appearances.
This is the Aroldis Chapman Experience that Boston should know all too well from his time with the New York Yankees. When he's on, Chapman is as good as there is in the sport, downright unhittable at times. But when he's off, he's uncompetitive, often having to dramatically reduce his stuff in order to have a prayer of finding the strike zone. That can lead to some bad, bad blowups, as both fan bases know all too well.
Again, it's entirely possible that this works out for the best. We've seen Chapman be elite for extended periods of time in the past. But he'll be pitching in a very unforgiving home park now, and he comes with real warts at age 37. He's a useful piece to have in any bullpen, but Boston appears to be relying on him a bit more than you'd like for a team with World Series aspirations.