Yankees: It’s time to stop having anxiety over Aroldis Chapman

Aroldis Chapman may be off to a hot start in 2018, but some Yankees fans cannot get shades of 2017 out of their head.  Will fans ever be comfortable with him again?

According to Fangraphs, the Yankees closer leads AL relievers in WAR (1.0), K/9 (17.05), and FIP (1.09) through 19 innings of work. No matter how impressive his numbers may be, some fans refuse to feel comfortable when he enters ballgames.

Their distress must be linked to his 2017 when shoulder inflammation plagued “The Cuban Missle.” His struggles even caused him to temporarily lose his closer job. We all remember those dark days.

Yet, Chapman appeared to rebound just in time for the postseason and during the offseason, the 103-mph throwing southpaw remained focused on bouncing back to his old All-Star caliber self.

Mike Mazzeo of The NY Daily News caught up with Chapman right before this year’s Spring Training and here’s what the closer had to say:

"“You definitely want to keep improving as a player,” Chapman said. “Definitely don’t want to go through the same rough patch that I went through last year. You want to prevent that from happening. That’s why I kept saying that hard work is the key. Focus on what you want to accomplish and be more consistent.”"

And in regards to his shoulder:

"“I worked a lot on my shoulder and my arm,” he said. “I wanted to become stronger and have more stamina to prevent injuries and fatigue toward the end of the year.” “I worked a lot on my shoulder and my arm,” he said. “I wanted to become stronger and have more stamina to prevent injuries and fatigue toward the end of the year.”"

Simple answers that we want to hear, but his 2018 performance speaks louder. One reason for his early dominance is his new pitch.

Take a look at the movement on these pitches:

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According to Matt Provenzano of Pinstripe Alley, Brooks Baseball labels the pitch as a sinker, while Fangraphs labels it a fastball. Whatever it may be, it’s working early on. It’s helped him strikeout 47.4% of the batters he’s faced and hold a BAA to a low .138.

Maybe it is just a fastball that has such devastating movement because of the velocity Chapman puts behind the pitch, along with his release point.

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He has not shown signs of slowing down anytime soon, and he will likely be an All-Star for the first time since 2015. I understand why some of the nervous fans can’t tune out the bad memories of Chapman from last year, but it’s okay guys and gals, he’s back.

As usual, I’m curious to know your thoughts: