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The New York Yankees are expected to activate reliever Aroldis Chapman on Friday, per Marly Rivera. Chapman was placed on the injured list with left Achilles tendinitis on May 24th.
Chapman has pitched in 17 games this season for a total of 14 innings. He is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA and nine saves. While Chapman has been sidelined, Clay Holmes has been shutting the door out of the pen. In 35 games, he has pitched 36.2 innings and has 14 saves with a 4-0 record.
Chapman does have the advantage of being a fireballing left-hander but has struggled with his location in recent outings pre-injury. He certainly isn’t going to be guaranteed save opportunities immediately upon his return. It could be a handedness advantage that manager Aaron Boone deploys, or New York could relegate Chapman to a setup role as Holmes certainly has shown that he can be the closer.
Either way, the one thing that is for certain is that with the return of Chapman, the Yankees are competing for one of the best backends of a bullpen in the league. Mix that in with their high-octane offense that puts up runs at a premium and this team could be even better which is a scary thought.