New York Yankees: Aroldis Chapman Has Confidence in Changeup

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is one of the best in the game. However, that isn’t stopping him from trying to improve.

The New York Yankees are fortunate to have one of the best closers in the majors in their bullpen. Aroldis Chapman has been one of the best closers in baseball for the past few years with the Reds, Yankees, and Cubs.

With a fastball that is usually over 100 mph, he is able to blow batters away with his heater. Last season, Chapman was able to help the Cubs win the World Series. The Yankees made the decision to trade him during the season and got a lot in return for him.

This offseason, the Yankees were able to sign Chapman as a free agent in order to strengthen the backend of their bullpen. Despite signing a big contract, Chapman is working on improving as a pitcher.

So far this season, we have seen Chapman use his changeup more often. With his blazing fastball, having a good off-speed pitch will make him even better. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has been impressed by the changeup so far.

"“They’re good pitches. Really,” Girardi said to Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. “I told you in spring training he had a lot better changeup than people knew about. He’s throwing it and it’s looked pretty darn good.”"

When Chapman was asked about using the changeup more, he simply said that he has more confidence in the pitch.

"“Nothing to it,” he said via team translator Marlon Abreu to Kuty. “I worked on it more in spring training. I have more confidence in those pitches now, so I’m using them.”"

Chapman has pitched well so far this season, as he hasn’t allowed a run, and also has eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

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Having Chapman being more confident in pitches other than his fastball will help him later on in his career when his fastball might lose some velocity.