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Report: Aroldis Chapman the ‘favorite’ to take over closer role for Red Sox
Chapman has fared better than Liam Hendriks and Justin Slaten so far this spring.
With a little more than a week to go before the start of the regular season, the Red Sox are reportedly inching closer and closer to sorting out their bullpen situation.
According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam, veteran lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman is currently the “in-house favorite” to take over as the team’s closer to open the 2025 season, with the 37-year-old southpaw leading a pack of relievers that also includes Liam Hendriks and Justin Slaten.
The seven-time All-Star has showcased his electric stuff on the mound during Grapefruit League action, recording 10 strikeouts over 5.1 innings of work.
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Chapman has outperformed Hendriks so far this spring, with the veteran righty sporting a 10.80 ERA across five outings. Hendriks is in the midst of an extended ramp-up back to game action, as he is still recovering from undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2023.
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Slaten, 27, impressed last season in Boston’s bullpen, He posted a 2.93 ERA across 44 outings while striking out 58 over 55.1 innings of work. But he has also had an up-and-down spring so far with Boston (4.91 ERA over four appearances).
Even though Chapman has been as advertised when it comes to getting batters to whiff at the plate, command remains an issue for him. He has walked four batters through those 5.1 innings of work so far this spring, with Chapman also issuing 5.7 walks per nine innings last season with the Pirates.
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Chapman’s command issues could lead to some stressful closeout situations for the Red Sox in 2025. But Boston is banking on his swing-and-miss offerings offsetting that knack for putting opposing batters on base.
Boston is looking to find some stability in the back end of its bullpen between Chapman, Hendriks, and Slaten, with the Red Sox ranking 24th in the majors last season in team bullpen ERA (4.39).
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