Aroldis Chapman's spring training gives Yankees fans hope the magic is gone

One of the most frustrating outside-of-the-Bronx developments for New York Yankees fans during the 2025 season was the re-emergence of Aroldis Chapman as a premier closer with the Boston Red Sox. An embarrassment for the Yankees on and off the field, the 38-year-old had become something of a journeyman, spending time with the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates after an infected tattoo and missed mandatory workouts sealed his pinstriped fate.

When he landed in Boston ahead of the 2025 campaign, the Yankees and their fans were licking their lips, envisioning all of the delicious meatballs he was sure to serve up. Instead, Chapman put together the best season of his career, posting a 1.17 ERA and 32 saves over 61 1/3 innings. That performance had him take home the Mariano Rivera Award at season's end, which is a truly painful sentence to write.

Chapman asserted that his newfound dominance was due to Red Sox catcher Connor Wong teaching him to throw strikes; the veteran lefty didn't miss the opportunity to take some shots at New York in the process. However, this spring, he's really struggled with a 5.40 ERA while watching his walk rate creep back up and his homer rate skyrocket.

Given his past track record, it's a safe bet that he comes back down to earth this season, so we can't wait to watch it happen.

Yankees fans hoping Aroldis Chapman torpedoes the Red Sox's bullpen in 2026

Of course, we know that we can't put too much stock in spring training stats, but we also know that relievers are volatile creatures. Boston had the second-best bullpen in the majors last year by ERA, coming in at a 3.41 mark, and Chapman was a big reason why.

As shiny as the 1.17 ERA looked, Chapman posted a 3.68 ERA from 2022-2024, coming in at 107th among qualified relievers and just a couple of spots ahead of 115th-ranked Ryan Yarbrough (when considering Yarbrough's time coming out of the bullpen and not his starts).

Given his age and the clear outlier nature of his 2025 performance, it's safe to assume that Chapman comes crashing back to earth. Boston will be paying him $13 million this year, and if he pitches at least 40 innings this season, his option will vest, and he'll be back on their books for another $13 million in 2027.

Above and beyond the likelihood of a downtick in performance, the Red Sox might also experience exactly what kind of sideshow the mercurial closer can be, especially if things aren't going well.

His World Baseball Classic gambit fell flat when he was deemed not British enough to play in the tournament for Great Britain. Given his history of off-the-field incidents, they'll be lucky if that silliness is the worst they have to endure.

More importantly, Boston might have already gotten a glimpse of what dealing with a bad Chapman can look like. During the ALWCS matchup between these hated rivals, Chapman wiggled out of a Game 1 jam, but not without loading the bases first. We know full well what an aberration that is for him when the heat is on, and once his 2025 magic dries up, situations like that will bring a world of pain to the Red Sox.

The spring stats are an enjoyable way to rib the Red Sox faithful, but the true danger lies in Chapman's volatility. The smart money is betting that his 2026 season looks nothing like his 2025 showing, and for us, that's a very good thing.