Aroldis

Chapman

The 37-year-old left-hander now has 17 saves and a 1.18 ERA in a tremendous first half. He’ll represent Boston in the All-Star game and is becoming increasingly likely to finish the season with the Red Sox and as the team’s closer as Boston continues to gain ground in the playoff race.

Chapman is going to the All-Star Game this year for the first time since 2021 — his eighth appearance. His ERA is down to 1.22 after tonight, and he might be the most coveted reliever available at the deadline, should the Red Sox make him available.

It’s the second consecutive trip to the Midsummer Classic for the 28-year-old southpaw. He’ll be joined on the American League staff by fellow starting pitchers Max Fried, Hunter Brown, Kris Bubic, Garrett Crochet, Jacob deGrom, Yusei Kikuchi, Shane Smith and Bryan Woo. Making the team as relievers are Andres Munoz, Aroldis Chapman and Josh Hader.

With Aroldis Chapman used in the eighth inning to face James Wood, it was Hicks who was given a three-run lead in the ninth inning on Sunday. The outing was not without its concerns. Josh Bell scorched a 107.6 mph lineout to start the inning, and then Brady House walked. Hicks was able to strike out Riley Adams, but a wild pitch moved House to second and a single from Daylen Lile drove in a run and brought CJ Abrams to the plate as the tying run. Hicks was able to get Abrams to fly out, but the reliever was averaging just 96.8 mph on his sinker, which is down from where he normally sits as a reliever. He also threw five sliders, but none of them were in the strike zone. The role here seems great for Hicks, but we have to hope that he’s healthy enough to take advantage of it.

Chapman is the 14th pitcher to reach 350 saves. Nine more this year would move him past Troy Percival, and there’s an outside chance of him getting 18 and 19 to overtake Jeff Readon and Jonathan Papelbon, respectively. However, with the Red Sox not really looking like top contenders, it’s quite possible that Chapman will be traded, perhaps to a team that would use him in more of a setup role.

Chapman fanned two. He’s allowed two hits and amassed a 17/1 K/BB while allowing only one unearned run in his last 12 appearances.

Chapman continues to look the part, and breezed through the San Francisco lineup to pick up his 14th save of 2025. The 37-year-old now has an outstanding 1.41 ERA in 2025, and he hasn’t given up an earned run since May 27. That’ll work.

As they’ve done on occasion, the Red Sox played matchups today, with Chapman getting the tougher eighth-inning assignment. He retired Dylan Moore, Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh in order then. Weissert walked Randy Arozarena with one out in the ninth, but he then got Dominic Canzone to hit into a double play to end the game.

What year is it? Chapman continues to throw the baseball past hitters, and he needed just 13 pitches to mow down the Seattle order while picking up his 13th save. Two of those offerings were clocked above 100 mph, and he lowered his ERA to 1.50 in the process.

Throwing 102 mph as a 37-year-old doesn’t feel natural. Yet, Chapman continues to come out throwing gas night in and night out. Most important, he’s drastically cut down on his free passes this season with the Red Sox. His walk rate has sunk from 14 percent to eight percent so far, and if that remains in check, there’s no reason he won’t continue to be a shutdown closer.