They'll have at least two weeks to work with whatever mechanical issues might be plaguing Chapman. But it also appears that injuries were part of the problem. The Reds put him on the 15-day disabled list Monday afternoon with shoulder inflammation.
While Sunday's win increased the Reds' NL Central lead to 1 1/2 games, it came almost in spite of Chapman. Unable to find the strike zone, he looked ready to hand the game to the Cardinals.
Chapman ? nicknamed "The Cuban Missile" for a fastball that's been clocked at 103 mph ? came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth with a seven-run lead. He walked the first two batters he faced in just 10 pitches. Tyler Greene flied out to left, giving Chapman a bit of breathing room.
But in another five pitches (two of which went in the dirt), he walked Gerald Laird, who's batting. .222. With the bases loaded, Allen Craig pinch-hit for pitcher Mitchell Boggs. And Chapman walked him on four straight pitches. Two of those throws went in the dirt. A run came in to score, and Chapman was out of the game.
Of the 23 pitches Chapman threw in his one-third of an inning, only five went for strikes.
In his last four outings, Chapman has walked 12 batters in just 1 1/3 innings. For the season, he has 20 walks in 15 innings.
Needless to say, Chapman was a topic of discussion after Sunday's game. Reds pitching coach Bryan Price says the issue is with their rookie reliever is his mechanics.
"His arm slot gets too low," Price said. "He gets across the ball. He's pulling a lot of balls inside to right-handed hitters."
How much Chapman's sore shoulder contributed to the situation remains to be seen, of course. But FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal talked to a scout who believes that Chapman's role is the real cause of the problem.
As a reliever, he's encouraged to come out of the bullpen and blow away hitters. And in late innings, the margin for error is smaller, putting more pressure on Chapman to throw strikes. As a starter, he would have to pace himself. That might improve his control.
But Chapman can't make that transition on the job while the Reds are contending for a division title. He would have to retool his game in the minors. As Price acknowledged to Rosenthal later in his article, having to develop a young pitcher while also trying to win games is probably making a tough situation even more difficult.
It's worth noting, however, that other teams have managed to contend while also seeing young pitchers make the leap from prospect to stud. The Chicago White Sox did it with Bobby Jenks in 2005, for instance. In 2006, the Cardinals did so with Adam Wainwright. The Rays used David Price in the 2008 postseason and the Rangers certainly benefited from having Neftali Feliz around in 2010.
Before the injury news, manager Dusty Baker said sending Chapman down to Triple-A Louisville isn't an option. But if the control issues aren't fixed with some R&R, they'll give Baker no choice but to effectively demote him within the Reds' bullpen. The fact that Chapman was used in mop-up duty with a seven-run lead on Sunday says all you need to know about a reliever who was presumed to be a setup man for closer Francisco Cordero before the season.
We'll have to wait and see.
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