Aroldis Chapman Takes His 105 mph Fastball To The Majors

Look out Major League Baseball — you’re about to have a Cuban Missile Crisis on your hands.

Tonight the hard-throwing 22-year-old Cuban sensation, Aroldis Chapman, will join the Cincinnati Reds to bolster an already strong bullpen in order to help the club try and make it’s first post-season appearance in 15 years.

The move had to be made now so the Reds could use Chapman for the post season and not have to worry about adjusting their 40-man roster.

For those of you that have not had the chance to see or even read about this kid’s stuff, I’ll sum it up in two words: F**king gas!

Great American Ball Park might want to install bullet-proof glass behind home plate to protect the fans in the first 5 rows.

Just days ago it was rumored that he hit 105 mph on the radar gun in a relief appearance for the Louisville Bats. I can’t even hit a fast-pitch softball at 60mph let alone even begin to comprehend making contact with a baseball flying at me at 100+mph.

Chapman began the season as a starter where he posted a mediocre record and ERA. Since he has been moved to the bullpen he is 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA, while recording 49 of his 125 strikeouts in 26 relief appearances.

The Reds brought up Sam Lecure for long relief to prepare for the stretch run, which has proved to be a good move so far.

Bringing up Chapman now gives the team a chance to rest their All-Star pitcher, Arthur Rhodes, who is beginning to show his age having allowed 5 runs over his past two appearances. This is the same pitcher who allowed only 7 runs through his first 58 appearances.

Every fan of baseball should be praying that with a kid like this, that throws hard all the time, we do not see what just happened to Steven Strasburg.

Strasburg does use a lot of movement, which puts a lot of strain on the elbow compared to Chapman relying primarily on his fastball. Although, don’t forget about what happened to reliever, Joel Zumaya, for the Tigers. Dude was hitting consistent high 90’s and low 100’s until he threw so hard he fractured his elbow.

The Reds have truly been a surprise this year and hope adding Chapman will only add to their playoff run. They currently hold a 6-game lead in the NL Central over the struggling Cardinals with 32 games left to play.

Adding a 105 MPH fastball to the bullpen can never hurt.