Aroldis Chapman in pursuit of a record in saved games

June 5, 2018

Aroldis Chapman reached his fourteenth save by achieving a 7-4 result for the Yankees over Detroit, in a very short day where barely four players took the field.

The left-hander got only one out but it was enough to contain the opposing team by striking out emerging Víctor Martínez with a slider after five consecutive fastballs.

Now his ERA is 1.46 and he ranks fourth in saves in the American League, behind Edwin Díaz (Mariners, 21), Craig Kimbrel (Red Sox, 19) and Shane Green (Tigers, 15).

Why say that the Cuban is truly a witness to the greatest closer in baseball history? The New York team proved that he was the one they wanted in that position for the long term: they traded him to the Chicago Cubs, he won the World Series and again the Bronx Bombers signed him to a five-year contract for 86 million dollars, a deal that runs from 2017 to 2021.

The numbers prove it and make him a sure bet to lock down games and secure victories for those managed by Aaron Boone.



After Rivera and before the Cuban, there were several names in charge of saving games for the Yankees. They were Dellin Betances, Rafael Soriano, David Robertson and Andrew Miller. None of them even reached 50 saves, a mark that Robertson came closest to, with 49 in pinstripes.

The "Missile's" count stands at 55, thanks to the 13 he has accumulated so far this season. He is only the second Yankee to achieve 50 saves in the last 20 years. The other, of course, is the Panamanian Rivera, who finished his illustrious career with 652, all with the New York team.

When the left-hander with the meteoric fastball reaches 100 saves with his current club, he will become only the sixth closer with that figure in the history of the most successful franchise in the Major Leagues and will join a group made up of: Rivera (652), Dave Righetti (224), Rich "Goose" Gossage (151), Sparky Lyle (141) and Johnny Murphy (104).

One more year, unmatched dominance for Chapman. In addition to the 13 saves, he has a record of 2-0 and an ERA of 1.48.

In 24.1 innings of work, they have given up only 11 hits and have allowed just four earned runs, with 11 walks and nothing less than 44 strikeouts.

His WHIP (the ratio of walks and hits allowed per inning) is noticeably better than in 2017: 0.90 compared to 1.13 last year.

And the most interesting thing is that he is striking out more than in recent seasons, as his strikeout ratio per 9.0 innings is 16.3, the second highest of his career and only below the 17.7 he posted in 2014.

When Rivera appeared for the last time in a Major League game, on September 26, 2013, the question arose: Who will be able to replace Mariano, a future Hall of Famer?

Well, Chapman, with his fastball of over 100 miles per hour as his main credential, is doing it quite well.