Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Texas Rangers Let Matchups Drive Aroldis Chapman's First Save
ARLINGTON, Texas — Aroldis Chapman’s first save with the Texas Rangers came with a 102.5 mph knockout punch and a caveat — he isn’t the club’s full-time closer.
Chapman’s final pitch to the Cleveland Guardians’ Myles Straw was the fastest pitch thrown by a Rangers pitcher in the Statcast era (since 2015). He closed out the Rangers’ 2-0 with two strikeouts and allowed only a two-out single to Will Brennan, a weak grounder that eluded Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien.
Turns out the pitch that struck out Cleveland’s Tyler Freeman earlier in the ninth topped 100 mph, too.
“It’s really amazing that he still has the same stuff that I saw when he first started pitching 10 years ago,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
Chapman worked the ninth for his third save of the season. Will Smith — who had been closing games for the Rangers most of this season — worked five outs before Chapman, retiring a pair of hitters in the seventh and the side in the eighth.
So why the flip now? A couple of reasons. First, it’s been in the works for more than a week.
Smith said that Bochy approached him in Boston before the All-Star Break about the idea of co-closing with Chapman. There was no pushback from Smith, who admits he does like working the ninth inning and has 15 saves this season.
“Boch is a Hall-of-Fame manager, so you really can’t argue with his decisions,” Smith said.
Smith also closed for Bochy in San Francisco, so his longstanding relationship with the manager helped, too.
When the Rangers acquired Chapman on June 30, the idea was to initially use him in a similar way to the Kansas City Royals — as a set-up man and occasional closer. Chapman pitched four innings with the Rangers before Saturday and allowed one baserunner. He struck out five of the 13 hitters he faced.
In his last 21 games, batters are hitting barely .100 against Chapman.
The second reason for the switch is that Bochy was looking at matchups, and he said after Saturday’s game that matchups will drive when each pitcher serves as closer and set-up man.
Bochy used Smith with one out in the seventh inning to relieve Grant Anderson. Smith was already warming up, but after Cleveland brought in Bo Naylor, a left-hander, to face Anderson, Bochy made the move to Smith.
Smith struck out Naylor and then got Steven Kwan, another left-hander, to pop out to end the inning.
Smith worked a spotless eighth, one that included a matchup with the switch-hitting Jose Ramirez and the left-handed hitting Josh Naylor.
“That was kind of the area where I wanted Smitty to pitch,” Bochy said.
Chapman worked the ninth against another switch-hitter in Josh Bell, followed by the right-handed hitting Freeman. He retired both and then gave up his only hit to Brennan, a left-handed hitter, before striking out Straw.
This is how it will work moving forward, Bochy said. The matchups will determine who pitches when. And both could have to shoulder more of a load with Josh Sborz on the injured list.
For Smith, whatever helps the Rangers win works for him.
“It’s just a cool, cool moment to get those final three outs,” Smith said. “But as long as the Rangers win you can’t really feel too bad about that.”
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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