Albertn Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz is a professional baseball relief pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He has previously played for the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. He was born in Cuba. Before joining the major leagues, Chapman played professionally for a Cuban baseball team called Holgun.
After signing a one-year contract with the Reds in February 2015, Chapman received a spot on the 2015 MLB All-Star Game. He then missed the All-Star Game due to left knee tendinitis. In addition, Chapman was placed on the disabled list for ten days due to tendinitis in his left knee. He was activated from the disabled list on May 10 of that year. In his 100th appearance, Chapman struck out five batters on 14 pitches, with a fastball clocked at 104 mph. He had a 2.50 ERA and a 4-4 record as a relief pitcher.
Despite his young age, Chapman began playing baseball in 2003. He first played as a first baseman before deciding to play as a pitcher. In 2006, he joined the Holguin Sabuesos and pitched a season with the team. He posted an overall record of 24-19 with a 3.74 ERA and 364 strikeouts in 326 innings pitched. He also pitched 11 relief appearances in 2007, and was part of the Cuban national team in both the 2007 Pan American Games and 2009 World Baseball Classic.
The regular season was also a great year for Chapman. In his last start for the Reds, he posted a 3.09 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 112/3 innings. Despite this, Chapman lost his first postseason game to the Phillies in three games.
In late October 2015, Chapman was involved in a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend. This triggered the suspension of his pending trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The investigation into the incident was launched by MLB, which has its own personal conduct policy. The allegations against Chapman included pushing and choking his girlfriend and firing eight shots at her. However, there were inconsistent reports and no charges were filed. Chapman’s attorney denied the accusations. As a result, the Reds subsequently traded him to the Yankees.
In the spring of 2008, Chapman attempted to defect to Cuba. He reported to Havana to meet with Raul Castro. Castro’s response was to suspend Chapman from the National Series and the Cuban national team for the 2008 Olympics. Chapman later returned to the National Series and the WBC.
Although Chapman has no obvious flaws in his delivery, his pitch speed is too high, which poses a risk of injury to his pitching arm. The strike zone has also been inconsistent this season.
