Red Sox's Aroldis Chapman Is Chasing Baseball History Again

While the Boston Red Sox's front office has taken a lot of heat over the last few months, there have been a few excellent moves made in the Craig Breslow era.

One that should probably get even more praise than it has is the signing of Aroldis Chapman. Boston signed the veteran closer to a one-year deal in free agency before the 2025 season and he completely turned back the clock. Last season, ESPN's Buster Olney shared a story about how Chapman had never previously spotted his pitches and just geared up and tried to throw them behind hitters. That changed in Boston. Connor Wong and PitchCom were catalysts and Chapman began attempting to spot his pitches more.

As a result, we have seen him turn back the clock and dominate as Boston's closer. Last year, Chapman pitched in 67 games for Boston and recorded a 1.17 ERA and 32 saves while winning the 2025 Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award. He was so good that he was a 3.4-WAR player as a reliever. That's not common. Rather than letting him walk to free agency, Boston handed him a one-year deal for the 2026 season with a vesting option for 2027. Again, it looks brilliant.

The Red Sox Have One Of The Game's Best

May 20, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (44) pitches during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Chapman has pitched in 19 games for the Red Sox this season and has a 0.48 ERA and 12 saves to go along with 25 strikeouts. He's been equally as good as he was last year. Also, he's approaching history with Boston.

After racking up two strikeouts on Sunday, Chapman is now seven strikeouts away from the all-time record for strikeouts by a relief pitcher. Right now, the record is held by Hoyt Wilhelm with 1,363 strikeouts. The Hall of Famer pitched from 1952 through 1972 all over the league with stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and the then-New York Giants, among others.

Chapman is right on his tail and has 1,356 strikeouts for his career so far. At this rate, he should easily break the record throughout the month of June, barring some sort of injury or something of that nature.

This wouldn't be his first bit of MLB history. He already has the record for most strikeouts by a left-handed reliever in league history.

It's just another example of Chapman's greatness. Wilhelm pitched in 1,070 games throughout his big league career. Chapman has pitched in 882 and is about to break the reliever strikeout record. Plus, he looks like he's got a lot left in the tank. No one has topped Wilhelm since 1972. Chapman looks like he's going to blow by the record and there's a chance no one else ever touches it if he has a couple more good years left.

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