Good morning! MLB Network’s ongoing project to determine the 10 best players at each position continued yesterday, as they finally made it to the bullpen. And if you’re a Red Sox fan, this is what you want to see:
Two Sox relievers on the list, with Aroldis Chapman taking the top spot. Not too shabby.
It’s hard to argue with MLB Network. Chapman was a blizzard of dominance in 2025. Already one of the greatest closers of his generation, Chapman posted career bests in ERA+, walk rate, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and WHIP, while posting the second-best hits-per-nine-innings rate of his career. He was outstanding.
And yet… I’m not completely sold on him as we enter 2026. I was skeptical of him last year and he shoved it in my face, so feel free to ignore me. But the reason why I was skeptical in 2025 — he was an aging pitcher with poor control whose performance had been trending downward for years — still gives me cause for concern this season.
Chapman was a completely different pitcher in 2025 than he had been in the three prior years, seemingly fixing his life-long control issues over night. He says that there was a reason for this, and that it wasn’t just statistical noise:
That’s right: if Chapman is to be believed, the reason why he suddenly was able to control his fastball after 15 years in the big leagues was that… last year was the first time he tried to control his fastball?
I don’t know, I’m not really buying that.
Chapman will be 38-years-old this year and everything I know about baseball tells me that last season will prove to be a statistical fluke. Granted, Chapman could come back down to Earth this season and still be perfectly effective in the ninth inning this year. But I’m worried about the back-end of the bullpen. Are you?
Talk about the closer’s role and whatever else you want, and, as always, be good to one another.
