Yankees manager not giving up on Aroldis Chapman yet
Jun 29, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (54) looks on after the Yankees loss against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. White Sox won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
New York Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman had another ugly outing on Friday night, allowing two hits and three runs in just 0.1 innings pitched. His ERA ballooned to 5.75 and fan frustration is really beginning to boil over.
Having already lost his job as closer to Clay Holmes, Chapman now finds himself just struggling to hang on. But he has at least one supporter in the clubhouse — manager Aaron Boone.
Following Chapman’s latest disaster of an outing, Boone attempted to put a mildly positive spin on things and suggested the 34-year-old is close to breaking out. The staff just has to help “pull it out” of him.
“It’s obviously tough right now for him. He’s going through a tough time and grinding, but from what we’ve seen the last three weeks, it’s in there. We’ve just got to pull it out,” Boone said, via Bryan Hoch.
“We’ve just got to keep building some successes and get the confidence back to where he’s that guy out there. That’s what we’re working to do,” Boone added, via The Athletic.
The struggling Chapman has to turn things around quickly. Fellow reliever Michael King suffered a fractured elbow on Friday night and will miss the remainder of the season. That’s a devastating blow to the team’s bullpen and puts the onus on others players, Chapman included.
