Via MLB Trade rumors comes word that a 21 year-old Cuban pitcher with a 100 m.p.h. fastball has defected (source, in Spanish, here).
His name is Aroldis Chapman — a guy who, if he harnesses his stuff and
makes the bigs, will likely go by the name “A-Chap” — and he pitched
for Cuba in the WBC. FanGraphs’ R.J. Anderson broke his stuff down during the tournament:
The 21-year-old left-hander will be remembered for his velocity
readings as much as anything since he threw more than 70% fastballs and
recorded an average velocity of 93 miles per hour. On his 12th pitch of
the afternoon Chapman hit triple digits with a staggering 100.2 miles
per hour. As the game’s announcers noted — in between giving us
updates on Chapman’s LiveJournal mood — Chapman has apparently hit 102
miles per hour in Cuban competition.
If you’re wondering why I’m not discussing Chapman’s off-speed stuff
much, that’s because he didn’t throw much of it it. Chapman’s slider
seems to have potential with excellent bend. It’s simply a matter of
harnessing control and command of the pitch. Something that may or may
not happen.
I think Crash Davis said it best: “Christ, you don’t need a
quadrophonic Blaupunkt! What you need is a curveball! In the show,
everyone can hit heat.”
Whether Mr. Chapman makes the show, then, will likely depend on
whether he can find that command and control Anderson was talking
about. Not that someone won’t give him a couple of million before then
banking that he can.
