Yankees reinstate Aroldis Chapman from the DL

Just a day after the Yankees finally got Aaron Judge back in their starting lineup the team announced today that closer Aroldis Chapman has been reinstated from the 10-day DL.

With only 12 games to go in the regular season, the Yankees are getting Chapman back just in time before the postseason. His return has the team back at full strength as they look to secure home field for the Al Wild Card game against the A’s October 3rd. Similar to Judge who went 0-4 in his return Tuesday night, Chapman might be rusty in his first couple games back but the good thing is he should have enough time to get back into a rhythm over these final two weeks.

The Yankees need Chapman back because as we’ve seen over the last couple weeks the bullpen has been a little shaky closing out games. In Tuesday’s win over the Red Sox, Zach Britton got his first save as a Yankee but the defense behind him certainly didn’t do him any favors and neither did Britton himself.

Britton has looked much better over his last couple weeks, but the same can’t be said about set-up man Dellin Betances who is once again struggling down the stretch in September (4.50 ERA). The struggles for Dellin aren’t as bad as they were this time a season ago, but he’s hit a bit of a rough patch of late and with him, there’s always that fear that things can balloon on him. That’s why it’s essential that Chapman assert himself back into that closer role so it gives Aaron Boone multiple late-inning options from here on out and in October.

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The Yankees have an abundance of set-up options to serve as the bridge for Chapman and now that he’s back Boone doesn’t have to single in on one guy to pitch the eighth inning. With Betances scuffling of late Boone can choose between him along with Roberson and Britton and pick his poison based on which matchups make the most sense.

As for Chapman the biggest thing to look out for from him when he does return to the mound is obviously his fastball velocity. When he went down with the injured knee back on August 21st his fastball velo was down to 95-96 mph instead of his usual 99 to 102 mph.

Chapman can still be effective even if he isn’t reaching triple digits but only if his control is on point and he’s getting ahead of hitters. That way he can sprinkle in that slider which has been a big weapon for him all season to keep hitters off balanced.

As I said earlier it might take a couple appearances for Chapman to wipe off the rust but if that knee is back to feeling close to 100% he should have no problem returning to his All-Star form. With 12 games over the next 12 days, the Yankees should be able to get him at least 5 to 6 innings under his belt so he can gain some momentum heading into the postseason.

His arm should also be pretty fresh after the long layoff which should only help him regain his elite velocity. However it all plays out, just having Chapman back on the active roster should give the team a much-needed confidence boost as they look to get hot at the perfect time before the postseason begins.

This is the team they’ve been waiting to put on the field for months and now that everyone is back it’s time to really take off and remind everyone why you don’t want to face this Yankee team come October.