Struggling Aroldis Chapman Vows To ‘Shut Up’ Critics After Subway Series Crash

Chapman has been slumping over the last month, prompting discussions about his role as the Yankees’ closer.

Aroldis Chapman has failed to shut the door lately, but the Yankees fireballer vowed to make critics of his recent performance “shut up.”

The left-hander, after allowing just one run through his first 23 appearances this season, has been in a funk since blowing a game against the Twins on June 10. He has not looked like himself and cost the Yankees a few other games since, including the first bout of New York’s doubleheader against the Mets on Sunday.

Chapman’s ERA has skyrocketed from 0.39 to 4.71 in just nine games, and he has wrestled with home runs (4) and walks (9) over that span. His latest outing left Aaron Boone weighing the decision to temporarily remove Chapman from the closer’s role.

Aroldis Chapman's Closer Job in Jeopardy After Another Miserable Performance

Chapman talked early Sunday to discuss what became a poorly timed All-Star selection, but he did not speak following Sunday’s blown save in which he allowed three earned runs, including a long ball to Pete Alonso. He did, however, share some thoughts on his social media pages on Tuesday with the Yankees set to begin a west coast trip following an off day.

“For all those people that criticizes my bad moments, I will tell them that I do not know how my story ends, but in its pages you will never read, ‘I gave up,’" wrote Chapman, who was booed off the mound Sunday. “So I will move on, I still have many wars to win and many mouths to shut up.”

Chapman has been able to move on before. Stretches like this have become common throughout his career, and this is not the first time his brief removal from the ninth inning has been debated. This season, however, the Yankees are struggling as a whole. That puts every poor Chapman outing under greater scrutiny.

There has been speculation that Chapman’s slump was brought on by MLB’s crackdown on foreign substances, though the pitcher has said he didn’t use sticky stuff. Boone has pointed to mechanical issues as the culprit.

Whatever the issue is, Chapman needs to sort it out quickly. In the meantime, the Yankees have to figure out how they want to deploy Chapman while he adjusts.

"We'll continue to talk through that," Boone said of Chapman’s job in between games on Sunday. "That'll be something that we talk about after these games and obviously with the off day tomorrow, so we'll have to talk through that."

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