Yankees Aroldis Chapman joins Mariano Rivera in history books

Featuring a 0.79 ERA, 18 strikeouts and 11 saves in 12 appearances during May, Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was named the American League Reliever of the Month.

What do Aroldis Chapman and the only unanimous choice named to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mariano Rivera, have in common? Both closers are the only Yankees ever awarded AL Reliever of the Month Awards.

In fairness, Rivera did it twice — first in April 2008 and again in July 2009.

As for Chapman, he was fantastic in May, going 11-for-11 in save opportunities, allowing just five hits and one run — while striking out 18 and walking only three for a BAA of .128.

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Chapman’s Fielding independent Pitching has fallen from 2.09 in 2018 to 1.65 this season. For those that don’t know, FIP is the cumulative percentage of strikeouts, walks, home runs and hit-by-pitches combined.

At 31, Chapman has become a more strategic pitcher, no longer solely relying on his regular 101 mph fastball to put hitters away.

Instead, Chappy has done an excellent job of burying his heavy slider down in the zone, throwing it 29.2 percent of the time (the highest amount of his career).

Though his fastball, which still sits around 98 mph is thrown 70.8 percent (subsequently, his lowest total), Chapman has kept the opposition off-balance, even without throwing a single changeup this season.

For the record, Chapman has only thrown 2.6 percent changeups during his 10-year career according to Fangraphs.

Earning his 250th career save against the Royals on May 25, Chapman became the 37th pitcher in baseball history to reach such a mark — and the first Cuban-born hurler to do so.

On the season, Chapman now has 17 saves in 18 chances, including 14 in a row. His 1.52 ERA (four earned runs allowed in 23.2 innings), is only magnified by his exemplary 0.930 WHIP, 34:7 K:BB ratio and just one home run given up.

As the anchor of the Yankee bullpen, Chapman deserves all the accolades he is getting, but let’s not forget about the other men steadying the ship before his arrival into each contest.

Even without the services of four-time All-Star Dellin Betances, the Yankees bullpen have the fourth-best ERA in the AL at 3.63 and lead the league with 21 saves.

Featuring a 0.79 ERA, 18 strikeouts and 11 saves in 12 appearances during May, Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was named the American League Reliever of the Month.

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