Aroldis Chapman passes physical; option for 2027 vests

He just keeps doing it. Making his first appearance in 10 days after tending to some lat tightness, Chapman made the Guardians look silly here striking out all three batters he faced to preserve a 1-0 lead. Funny enough, he shied away from his hard stuff and threw five splitters among his 12 total pitches. Cleveland’s hitters flailed at all five of them. Chapman’s last blown save came all the way back in June as he’s set to enter the postseason on a roll.

It sounds like Chapman is getting close to being available again after missing time with lat tightness that cropped up last Thursday. The 38-year-old southpaw’s unbelievable late-career renaissance has resulted in back-to-back 30-save campaigns for the Red Sox. It’ll likely be Erik Miller or Garrett Whitlock handling a potential save chance during Tuesday’s series opener against the Guardians.

Miller was summoned to protect a three-run lead with Aroldis Chapman presumably unavailable due to an ongoing lat issue. Things got interesting after Victor Mesa Jr. reached on an infield single and Yandy Díaz drew a one-out walk to bring the potential tying run to the plate. A ground out by ensuing batter Jonathan Aranda brought a run home before Miller wisely elected to walk red-hot Junior Caminero. A wild pitch enabled Ryan Vilade to reach base safely after striking out before Miller got speedster Chandler Simpson to ground out to end the contest. Miller has been phenomenal as a setup specialist since coming over from the Giants at the trade deadline, but there’s a chance he picks up a few more saves down the home stretch depending on Chapman’s health and availability, which gives him some short-term fantasy appeal.

Chapman hadn’t pitched in four days and wasn’t previously reported as injured, so it was pretty stunning to see him not out there against the Rangers. Still, Garrett Whitlock successfully closed in his place. Chapman is listed as day-to-day for now.

Chapman walked the first two batters he faced, only to strike out three in a row afterwards. Chapman is tied with David Bednar for fifth in the majors in saves. They’re six behind fellow AL East closer Bryan Baker.

Chapman, the ninth pitcher in major league history with 400 saves, reached back and found 101 on his final pitch, striking out Christian Encarnacion-Strand. He saved three of Boston’s four wins in Baltimore. He’ll probably be down Monday after this, which could lead to a save chance for Garrett Whitlock.

Chapman locked down the save against the Orioles on Friday night, retiring the side in order while recording one strikeout. It was his 32nd save of the season. Chapman now has 399 career saves and with one more he’ll become the ninth pitcher in MLB history to join the 400 saves club.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand took Chapman deep in a three-run game. It was the third homer allowed by Chapman in 46 2/3 innings this season, but it didn’t stop him from picking up save No. 398 of his career.

Interim manager Chad Tracy made what we would argue was a bad call after getting Chapman up with the Red Sox down 8-7 in the eighth, only to stick with Alec Gamboa in the top of the ninth. That was especially the case after Gamboa gave up a leadoff triple. Gamboa, though, escaped to keep the deficit at one before the offense came back and tied the game, and Chapman stranded the automatic runner in the 10th, after which the Red Sox won in the bottom of the inning.

Chapman was summoned to protect a two-run lead in the final frame and managed to work around a leadoff single by Owen Caissie to preserve the win. The 38-year-old veteran has notched three saves in the last four days and is just three shy of 400 for his career. He’s recorded back-to-back 30-save campaigns for the Red Sox as his unexpected late-career renaissance shows zero signs of slowing down. He joins Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith as the only relievers with 10 seasons in which they compiled 30-plus saves. Unreal.