The Atlanta Braves Add Lefty Kevin Chapman For Bullpen
By John Le
The Chapman the Atlanta Braves claimed is not the one you’re thinking of, though.
On Monday, the Atlanta Braves announced they have claimed 29-year-old Kevin Chapman from the Houston Astros.
The Braves have claimed LHP Kevin Chapman off waivers from the Houston Astros.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 13, 2017
The left-handed pitcher was reportedly placed on waivers by the Astros on Sunday. The Florida native is a former fourth-round pick back in 2010 by the Kansas City Royals, after previously being picked in 2006 AND 2009 (Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox) but chose not to sign. Chapman would be traded to the Astros in 2012 and made his major league debut the following year.
He has a major-league career ERA of 4.09 but spent most of the last two seasons in the minors, playing for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Astros’ AAA affiliate. Chapman is mostly a middle reliever but has never really been successful.
His arsenal features a 94 mph fastball but his primary pitch is 93 mph sinker. He also has a change-up, a slider and a curve-ball to mix it up but he also comes with command issues.
Chapman recently pitched for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, making two appearances in Games 1 and 3. In Game 1, he came in the middle of the fifth inning and got Gregory Polanco to ground into a fielder’s choice in which Adrian Beltre was thrown out and then proceeded to strike out Welington Castillo. The following inning, he gave up singles to Jose Reyes and Manny Machado. He got Robinson Cano to fly out before being taken out of the game.
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In Game 3, Chapman took over the fifth inning once again, this time striking out Giancarlo Stanton and getting Brandon Crawford to ground out to second.
He would walk Ian Kinsler and allow him to reach second base with a wild pitch during Adam Jones‘ at-bat. Jones would then ground out to end the inning. In the two appearances, Chapman is charged with three earned-runs on five hits.
This move gives the Braves another lefty option for the bullpen. Atlanta already have Ian Krol and Paco Rodriguez as their main options, with Eric O’Flaherty. Chapman is reportedly out of options therefore Braves will have to keep him on the 40-man roster or put him back on waivers and hope he passes through.
However, the Braves recently tried that with Christian Walker and lost him to the Cincinnati Reds.
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If the Braves can work on him and help him find some control, at worst, he can be serviceable.