CLEVELAND — The Yankees wanted to give Aroldis Chapman some soft landings upon his return from the injured list to ease him back into action.
They tried, but Chapman still stumbled hard out of the gate.
In his first outing in five-plus weeks, Chapman walked all three batters he faced before getting pulled in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 13-4 win over the Guardians in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday at Progressive Field.
Aaron Boone said the lefty reliever, who had been on the IL with left Achilles tendinitis, is healthy, but Chapman’s command was still hurting as only seven of his 19 pitches were strikes. Perhaps even more troubling was the fact that of the eight fastballs he threw, just one was a strike.
“It’s just like, he’s gotta get out there and almost not think in terms of not throwing the ball but just trusting it and letting it rip and then let the results fall where they may,” Boone said between games. “I think he’s guarding against making sure he doesn’t throw a ball, and that’s similar to the mindset I talk a lot about hitters — ‘I want to get a hit,’ and that gets you in trouble. Maybe a little bit similar on the mound. But I think he’s healthy.”
The Yankees were hopeful that a clean-up of Chapman’s delivery during his time on the IL could help improve his control upon returning, but the early results were not encouraging.
Facing the Guardians’ Nos. 6-7-8 hitters with a 10-2 lead, Chapman entered full counts in each at-bat. After walking the first two batters, he got a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, but then proceeded to walk light-hitting catcher Sandy Leon to load the bases.
Before Boone could even get to the mound, Chapman had already walked off of it.
“That’s the biggest thing [is his mindset],” Boone said. “I know he wants it and I know the good thing is, I feel like his work and his sides and everything’s been really good. So it’s in there. But I think there’s probably a little bit of confidence right now that’s not there.
“Especially when Chappy’s at his best, he’s a mother out there. He’s got a lot of confidence and we gotta get that back to him. That’s the biggest thing right now because I do feel like he’s healthy and the work is there. But it’s getting over that hump and I think confidence plays a big factor in that.”
Ron Marinacco relieved Chapman and cleaned up his mess, but two of the runners he inherited scored. Both runs were credited to Chapman, marking the sixth straight game in which he has given up at least one run.
It was also the second time this season Chapman has walked three batters without recording an out. He also did so on April 14 against the Blue Jays.