Aroldis Chapman was bad again in Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays, giving up a monstrous homer to Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. to lead off the ninth inning at the Stadium.
The left-hander, who walked two of the four batters he faced after Guerrero and was removed for Wandy Peralta, has given up four runs in his past seven innings (over eight appearances) and has been struggling with his fastball. Chapman’s command issues aren’t going anywhere, either, as he has walked eight in that span.
His velocity was consistently in the mid-90s — a speed at which Chapman can’t get batters out consistently.
Manager Aaron Boone attributed Chapman’s issues to an inability to “sync up his mechanics consistently.”
Coupled with the loss of Zack Britton to elbow surgery, the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen is a shell of what it was expected to be as the team desperately tries to hold onto a playoff spot.
Aroldis ChapmanRobert SaboAaron Judge reached on an infield hit in the seventh innning to snap an 0-for-22 skid. … Gio Urshela didn’t play, and Boone said it was a day off for the third baseman. He’s 1-for-8 with a pair of strikeouts in three games since returning from a left hand injury. Urshela also made two errors in Monday’s loss, but had no issues Tuesday. … Pitching coach Matt Blake was tossed for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout during Luke Voit’s at-bat in the bottom of the ninth. Voit struck out swinging.
The slumping Joey Gallo, who was given Tuesday off, was back in the lineup. He went 1-for-2 with a run and a pair of walks.
“I felt good and was seeing the ball well,’’ Gallo said. “I’ve been seeing the ball well the whole time. I tried to put the ball in play a little bit more.”
He struck out once Wednesday after whiffing in all four plate appearances Monday.
A brief “Der-ek Jet-er” chant erupted from the Bleacher Creatures during the roll call.
