Aroldis Chapman is activated from DL and back with New York Yankees
NEW YORK – Aroldis Chapman was back in the bullpen, possibly in play to save Wednesday night’s game against the Red Sox should the situation arise.
“We’ll kind of monitor him today to see if we want to make him available,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday, hours after his flame-throwing closer was activated from the 10-day disabled list.
Chapman threw in a simulated game on Monday and “we want to make sure he’s good to go once we start in with him,’’ Boone said. “Initially, (we’ll) probably just want to get him into a game in some way, shape or form.
“We’ll kind of let the role evolve and…eventually (Chapman will go) back to our closer spot.”
Chapman exited an Aug. 21 game at Miami due to inflammation of his left knee.
Chapman (3-0, 2.11 ERA, 31 saves) had been managing left knee tendinitis since May. It’s unclear whether he’ll require a postseason procedure to correct the issue before next spring training.
But as October nears, “we get an elite closer back who’s had a great year for us,’’ Boone said of Chapman, who made the AL All-Star team. “Just excited to add him to, obviously, what we think is a really good bullpen.’’
The presence of Zach Britton, Dellin Betances, David Robertson and Chad Green provides Boone with a unique bullpen depth, though Chapman might require a few outings to find his rhythm.
"(We) want to keep him working regularly, want to get him back in the mix, back in the flow and kind of in his role sooner rather than later,'' Boone said. "So, we’ll, make sure we try and get him regular work.
"But we want to also make sure we’re using him in big spots here down the stretch and get him to where he’s really firing on all cylinders as we head into October.”
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