TAMPA — Aroldis Chapman will have more suspension days than saves whenever his Yankees’ career gets underway.
With a ban from MLB coming, the Yankees’ closer is waiting to see what the length is before appealing the sentence for his involvement in a domestic violence incident last October.
As he waits, Chapman is like any other pitcher working at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and Monday he threw batting practice on the main mound after Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances unleashed their heat.
The left-handed Chapman fired baseballs that looked like aspirins in his first spring session against hitters.
“It was tough to see the ball out of his hand,’’ shortstop prospect and left-handed hitter Tyler Wade said of facing Chapman, who didn’t reach triple-digits with his fastball but was still overpowering.
Wade, 21, was asked if Chapman threw him anything besides fastballs and said there was a slider mixed in.
“Ridiculous,’’ Wade said of that pitch.
While Chapman’s suspension hasn’t been ignored, it hasn’t smothered the Yankees’ camp or seem to have affected Chapman’s routine of getting ready for whenever his first Yankees game is.
“I am just waiting like everybody else,’’ Chapman said through an interpreter after the batting practice session in which he also faced Jorge Mateo, the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, Cesar Puello and Ben Gamel.
The Yankees knew Chapman was facing a possible suspension when they acquired the 28-year-old from the Reds in late December for four minor leaguers. According to Brian Cashman, there hasn’t been much sleep lost waiting for the news.
“Something at some point, we are going to hear something. It’s not out of my mind, it’s out of our control,’’ the general manager said. “Now it’s in the hands of our commissioner [Rob Manfred], who will do what’s best for our sport. We have a lot of trust there and will support whatever his decision is. It’s a serious issue and I know the commissioner and the Players Association are in a position to try and make sure everything they do is on the same page.’’
So much has been made of adding Chapman’s 104 mph fastball to the power arms of Betances and Miller. But, can the Yankees’ bullpen be better than a year ago?
When the Yankees held a lead after eight innings in 2015, they were 81-0, and they were 73-2 when ahead after seven.
“There are some really sexy names that have been collected there, but it is still going to be hard-pressed to achieve what we did last year,’’ Cashman said of a bullpen that had lefty Justin Wilson pitching very well in front of Betances and Miller. “If we kept Willie, Delly and Miller and played that season over a 100 times, I doubt we would reproduce the performance we got last year. We have Chapman instead of Wilson, but I still say it’s going to be hard to beat the success we had but we aspire to. That’s why we brought Chapman in.’’
Non-roster invite Carlos Corporan, who has four years of major league service, caught Chapman.
“He throws 104 with that slider and changeup? It’s going to be interesting. I’m glad I did it. I can die now and be happy. Now I can go to heaven,’’ Corporan said. “He wasn’t letting it [his fastball] go.”
Corporan has an outside chance of being Brian McCann’s backup, although the favorite is Gary Sanchez.
“I’m glad I’m his teammate now. I’m going to become his best friend just in case,’’ Corporan said.