What we must remember about this most magnificent season of Aroldis Chapman, among the greatest a relief pitcher ever has offered – better than Mariano Rivera's best as a closer, superior to any in Trevor Hoffman's oeuvre, almost certainly tippity-top since Tony La Russa redefined the modern bullpen in the late '80s – is that it almost didn't happen.

In early April, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker faced a win-win decision with Chapman: starter or reliever. During spring training, Chapman transitioned nicely to the rotation, throwing not the otherworldly triple-digit figures for which he had become famous – he paid homage to his record fastball with a license plate on his Lamborghini that reads MPH 105 – but reasonable mid-90s funk that still flummoxed hitters. Baker, no stranger to controversial decisions, returned Chapman to the bullpen anyway, in part, he explained, because he worried about his left-handed depth. There were concerns, too, about Chapman's ability to handle the mental rigors of starting, the downtime that might send him toward a path of fast cars and women and problems. Chapman does nothing half-throttle – including, it turns out, pitching the ninth inning.





Baker moved him there May 20, and no matter the inefficiency of saving a pitcher for an inning as opposed to a situation, Chapman stands alongside Braves reliever Craig Kimbrel, his equal in nearly every statistic but innings, as Kings of the Closers. Chapman doesn't just own the ninth inning. He pwns it, his life an ever-evolving meme of weird robberies and somersaults and dangerous driving.

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And strikeouts. Lots and lots of strikeouts. One hundred twelve in 63 innings after his latest two appearances, both without a K, only the third and fourth time in 59 appearances this season that has happened. Chapman's strikeout rate is an even 16 per nine innings, just below the 16.1 per nine Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen threw last season to set the all-time record for pitchers with at least 50 innings. Between that and the walk rate that has cratered from 7.4 per nine last year to 2.1 this year, and Chapman has earned mention among the all-time seasons of 1990 Dennis Eckersley, 2006 Jonathan Papelbon, 2008 Rivera and the gold standard, PED-influenced though it may have been, Eric Gagne's 2003.

Chapman's opponent's batting average of .137? Third-best ever, behind 1999 Billy Wagner (.135) and '03 Gagne (.133).

The .205 OBP against? Fourth, next to 2007 J.J. Putz (.202), '03 Gagne (.199) and '08 Mo (.190).

The slugging percentage of .219? Fifth, alongside 2006 B.J. Ryan (.214), '99 Wagner (.212), 1967 Ted Abernathy (.202) and '03 Gagne (.176).

Because managers wouldn't dare push a modern reliever to the triple-digit innings mark, Chapman's place of value among the all-time relief seasons is suspect. Baseball-Reference.com, for example, assigns Chapman 3.4 Wins Above Replacement this season, a number that ranks 147th among relief seasons. Most of those at the top, like Goose Gossage's 8.1-win 1975 season, are the result of huge innings totals. FanGraphs, the other repository for WAR, looks more favorably on Chapman's season, giving it 3.5 wins – good for 25th on its all-time reliever list.

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