is reporting that Chapman is 26, not 21. Here’s the story:
The Yankees, who have been at the forefront of signing international pitchers, will have discussions about whether they should pursue the left-handed Chapman. He fires a fastball that exceeds 100 miles per hour and is widely considered the premier pitching prospect in Cuba. His age was reported Thursday as 21, but reports in March at the World Baseball Classic said he was 26.
This changes the equation a bit. He’s still a HIGHLY desirable free agent, but his price just went way down. The lack of command he showed in the WBC is more troublesome at 26 than 21. Makes you think he’s much less likely to ever develop the secondary stuff if he hasn’t by now, and (if you watched the video) he clearly hasn’t. I was thinking he was a young kid who needed some serious mechanical work in instructs. His fastball fluctuates from 90-100 MPH on successive pitches, and his slider is all over the place. Watching his performance against Australia I also noticed that his lack of control makes his shy away from pitching inside, which he will need to do in the bigs. He just seems to not have a very repeatable delivery at this point. He’s a bigger project with long standing habits to break, instead of a kid who raw and very teachable. If these things aren’t correctable, his ceiling may be as a back of the bullpen reliever instead of as an ace starter. He may be a left handed Manny DelCarmen instead of Randy Johnson part 2.
Still want him, but the price just went way down.
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went from randy johnson to eric threets
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cuban Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Chapman is 21. 3 years ago he was playing with Dayan Viciedo (another cuban prospect) in the World Baseball Championship sub-
19
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“He may be a left handed Manny DelCarmen instead of Randy Johnson part 2.”
He might also be another Maels Rodriguez.
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If someone heard 26 on march it should be a mistake, like his name, they said Albertin Chapman, but on the oficial line up he was reported 21, he was born on february 28th 1988
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Steve S. Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Part of the process he will have to go through will be verification of all of his documentation, including his age. One good thing about Communist countries, they keep great records. So this will be sorted out eventually.
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That NY Times story was wrong. The writer misheard someone say he was 26. Check Baseball America for the story.
His full name is Alberti Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz so, but he goes by Aroldis. The WBC used his first name instead
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Hi,
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Regards,
Jane
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I’m 21 and Aroldis study with me and went to a provincial basseball when we had 14 years in Holguin Cuba
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I find a certain amount of this troubling.Claims that the report is wrong, versus the unofficial lineup being later corrected. Obviously a 100mph fastball can be used in almost any bullpen but it’s a rough angle that the Yankees need a unreliable mid to late 20’s reliever to come in for big bucks.
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21 or 26 is only 5 years and 5 years is not much of a difference in your 20’s going from 30 to 35 is huge. i would like to also point out that when randy johnson first came to the big leagues he was very wild scary wild. he didn’t gane control of his breaking stuff till he was about 28. as far as the yankees spending big bucks for pitching for the price it cost me to bring my 2 sons to the stadium they better spend the money to put the best poss. team on that field. mean lets face it if they put the worst team on the field the prices will never drop.
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