Aroldis Chapman never thought of placing his fastball before 2025

Would you like to hear a crazy story?

The Boston Red Sox, by hook or by crook, have found a way to work out Aroldis Chapman's command issues, reducing his on-base count in 2025.

How? By making him understand that he could place his fastball.

It's worth noting that this wasn't a preplanned plan, given that normally, an emeritus pitcher of his age is supposed to know that his fastball, it can be placed on the plate.

What happened was that, at practice camp, catcher Connor Wong used his PitchCom to ask the pitcher for an inside fastball. The latter executed perfectly.

And afterwards, he thought… it made sense to try and place his fastball. Ben Verlander related the anecdote.

Before, when he had a fastball, he'd just throw it as hard as he could toward home plate. It never really occurred to him that aiming at a specific corner could be more effective.

Is it just me… every pitcher in the majors should know this? It's still the basics (even if his fastball is really fast) and it's abnormal that he should have been triggered by Wong's gesture, who surely didn't think he'd change Chapman's career with it, this late in his career.

But hey. Ultimately, Chapman is a machine this year and is rising from the ashes in Boston. He should win Reliever of the Year, and he's playing an important role in the Red Sox‘ playoff run.

The Red Sox have already offered him a contract extension for next season. He's not going anywhere.

This content was created with the help of AI.