Sean Marshall as a closer. (US Presswire) |
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"You just wonder if he graduated," Baker also said.
You wonder, yes, but Baker appears to be leaning that way. He's already talked to Chapman, known as the Cuban Missile for obvious reasons, about the possibility of a promotion to closer and said he intends to talk to Marshall and pitching coach Bryan Price. If Baker rechecks the stat sheet, he'll also find that Chapman hasn't allowed an earned run in 21 1/3 innings while striking out 38 and allowing only seven hits and seven walks.
A look at those shiny stats suggests he's at the head of the class and may be too good to set up, especially when the current closer isn't really a closer. Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano were overpowered by Chapman, whiffing on fastballs in the high 90s in the eighth inning of the Reds' 6-5 victory. They shouldn't feel bad; he's been overpowering nearly everyone.
The bigger factor, though, may be Marshall, who was removed from the game with two outs in the ninth and two on before Jose Arredondo earned his first major-league save by getting Derek Jeter and Granderson on groundouts. Referring to Marshall, Baker said, "That's the second time I [took him out] in a week. You hate to do that. You've got to do what you've got to do to win."
Better just to remove Marshall from the closer role entirely. He's a great setup man. But as a closer, he's miscast. He now has a 5.02 ERA and he's allowed 22 hits in 14 1/3 innings. "He's a setup guy masquerading as a closer," one National League scout said.
As for Chapman, it's the other way around. He's too good to be a setup man. After striking out Granderson and Cano, he got Alex Rodriguez on a popout to shortstop to end the eighth inning before Marshall ran into all sorts of trouble in the ninth, allowing four hits and two runs.
This is the right move by Baker, even if it will come later than some will like. Others outside the organization suggest Chapman is being wasted in the setup role. "He has closer written all over him," the NL scout said.
That may be so, but Chapman only began relieving last year, and it probably wouldn't have been fair to anoint him the closer off a spring when he mostly started. The original plan was to send him to Louisville to work as a starter, and all we can think now is that all those Triple-A hitters must feel fortunate not to have had to face the guy who's pitched as well as anyone in the National League so far.
The plan was scuttled when closer Ryan Madson needed Tommy John surgery and was lost for the year, and when Nick Masset also got hurt. Marshall was expected to set up. "He didn't sign up for that [closing] role," Baker pointed out.
It's all been quite a conundrum for the Reds, who had to rejigger their original plans based on injuries. Chapman was a famed starter in Cuba, and he was also the Reds' best starter this spring. But the scout said Chapman isn't really a starter. Although Chapman has made huge strides since last year when he seemed fixated on enormous radar-gun readings and had trouble throwing strikes, the scout insisted Chapman should close, not start, saying "He's a thrower, not a pitcher."
Baker wondered before the game about Chapman's limited relief experience, and about whether Chapman knows how to prepare. Baker also wondered whether he will be able to pitch several days in a row, as is required for a closer. "If he's going to be a closer, he's going to have to pitch back to back to back at some point," Baker said before the game.
But Baker sounded like he could be swayed even before Marshall got hit around, as he talked about how a possible switch depended on Marshall, too. While Marshall has struck out 21 batters himself, he hasn't looked altogether comfortable as a closer. After the game, Baker pointed out, "He didn't sign up for that role. He was supposed to be a setup man ... And Chapman was supposed to be a starter."
Now it appears at least one of them will get the role he signed up for. That is Marshall.
Providing Baker makes the expected change, the focus will be on Chapman, though.