After agreeing to and serving a 30-game suspension (which became only 29 games after a rainout) for violating the MLB domestic violence policy, Aroldis Chapman was reinstated prior to Monday's game against the Royals.
With a 6-2 Yankees lead -- a non-save situation -- Chapman came in for the ninth and he brought his patented smoke with him. He would routinely hit triple digits with his fastball, as we have grown accustomed to seeing over the years with Chapman. He already owns the fastest pitch of the 2016 season, in fact:
Aroldis Chapman has thrown 6 pitches this year... He's already thrown the hardest 101.51 MPH.
— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 10, 2016
He would strike out the first two hitters he faced.
It wasn't all roses in the return, however, as Paulo Orlando unleashed a double to dead center field and then scored on an Alcides Escobar single.
A fun fact here is that Chapman will serve as the Yankees closer, which "demotes" Andrew Miller. In 11 2/3 innings so far this season, Miller hasn't allowed a single run. Chapman gave one up after 2/3. This isn't to say anything other than "fun fact," so don't run with this being me drawing any sort of conclusion.
As for the vaunted Yankees back-end trio, Miller, Chapman and Dellin Betances have now combined for 49 strikeouts and four walks in 26 2/3 innings. It'll be interesting to see how absurd that line ends up.
