Once hailed as the dominant eighth inning guy, and the leading contender to take the closer’s job when David Bednar was struggling early on, Aroldis Chapman has harshly fallen from grace. 

He is quickly becoming one of the more unreliable pitchers on the Pirates’ staff. In the beginning of the season, it seemed like a lock whenever Chapman took the mound that he would shut down the opposition. Now, we all hold our breath every pitch. 

The latest in a string of underperforming starts saw Chapman give up a two-run homer that surrendered a 5-4 lead. That homer ended up being a backbreaker for the Pirates, who dropped the Thursday afternoon game by a final score of 7-5. Chapman will be dinged with the loss. 

What was hardest to watch from that home run? It was a two out, two strike pitch that pinch hitter Gary Sanchez smacked out of PNC Park. The same Gary Sanchez that the Pirates reportedly had a strong interest in during the winter, but who ultimately signed in Milwaukee. 

This appearance followed up an April 22nd game that saw him only make it through ⅓ of the inning. Against the Brewers in the series opener, Chapman struck out his first batter swinging, but then walked three straight batters. The final two of those three were both given 4-0 counts to take their bases. 

It’s a far cry from what Chapman was to start the season. In his first 7 games of 2024, Chapman had struck out 9 batters and was completely unhittable. Literally, he did not allow a single hit over those 5.0 innings pitched. The only chance a batter had at getting on base was via a Chapman walk, which he had allowed only 3 of. 

Since then, however, things have gone completely south. He was charged with a blown save 

In his most recent 5 games and 3.0 innings pitched, Chapman’s ERA has exploded. He has allowed 6 runs (4 earned) in that time. 

It’s seen him be charged with his first blown save of the season back on April 13th, and his first loss of the year two days later on April 15th. 

The majority of the damage to his ERA has not come from batting. Chapman has limited opponents to 4 hits in this stretch. That’s not terrible, but for a pitcher of his caliber you’re looking for him to lock things down a little more. However, the real problem has become his control. Chapman has walked 7 batters in his last 5 games, equal to his 7 strikeouts. His WHIP (walks plus hits allowed per innings pitched) has climbed very close to 2.00. 

Coming into today’s game, a staggering 51% of his pitches were strikes in his last 5 games. The Pirates have to be getting better pitching than that. 

Chapman’s downfall has coincidentally taken place as David Bednar has rebounded from a nightmare start to the year. Bednar is back to old form, and questions about who should be the closer have mostly died down. If they’re still around, Chapman is no longer the answer. 

Chapman is looking less and less like an answer for anything for the Pirates right now. His ERA has climbed all the way to 6.75, a super concerning number for the biggest free agent signing the Pirates made in the offseason. 

With Colin Holderman back from the Injured List and establishing himself as a reliable option, Pittsburgh might be wise to let Chapman take some days off. Something is off with him. Whether it’s a physical ailment that we don’t know about, or some mental miscues, there’s just something that’s not working, and the man who was once one of the biggest factors in them winning games has now become one of their biggest factors in losing games. 

He is averaging 1.6 days of rest in between appearances, but take that with a grain of salt considering he served a small suspension for *checks notes* talking to an umpire, I think? 

In any case, it might be time to let Chapman figure things out away from in-game action. With the way he has played in recent games, it’s getting awfully hard to trust him whenever he takes the mound.

(Featured photo by Noah K. Murray/AP)