GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Aroldis Chapman uncoiled his loose, wiry frame, and the $30.25 million fastball exploded from his left hand. It crashed in to the right leg of another top prospect for the Cincinnati Reds, Todd Frazier, who shouted and crumpled to the dirt. Trainers helped him off the field.
It was an intrasquad scrimmage, closed to the fans, but it was significant for the Reds, the surprise winners of the Chapman chase in January. It was the first game action for a pitcher who is vital to the future of a team with nine consecutive losing seasons. Watching Chapman’s heralded fastball strike Frazier, the Reds feared the worst.
“Especially him,” catcher Ramon Hernandez said. “He throws hard.”
The Reds soon reported that Frazier had only a bruised quadriceps, not a knee injury, as Manager Dusty Baker first feared. Then again, Chapman let up a little on that fastball. It was 95 miles an hour. His last two fastballs touched 97.
“I had no chance,” Castillo said.
Chapman, a Cuban defector who signed a six-year contract, threw 12 strikes among 17 pitches. They mixed 2 sliders with 14 fastballs and tried a changeup for his last pitch, fooling Wilkin Castillo for strike two.
In a larger sense, the Reds were thought to have no chance at landing Chapman, who defected from the Cuban national team during a tournament in the Netherlands last July 1. Chapman, now 22, had struck out five over two as well as a third innings at the World Baseball Classic, and his fastball has been clocked at 100 miles an hour.
They established residency in Andorra to keep away from the amateur draft and be available to all teams. In the whirlwind that followed, Chapman fired the agent Edwin Mejia, who had helped him defect, and hired the more experienced Alan and Randy Hendricks.
Over half the teams attended a December workout in Houston, but the Reds showed only cursory interest at first. Bryan Price, the Reds’ new pitching coach, watched video of Chapman at the winter meetings, mostly to satisfy his own curiosity. Price, like most Reds in uniform, had no idea the team might sign him.
“I was in Boston at a baseball roundtable with Omar Minaya, Theo Epstein and Mark Shapiro, and they were talking about him a little bit,” said starter Bronson Arroyo, referring to two general managers. “You always assume that two of the bigger clubs are going to sign a guy like that, and you hadn’t even heard the Reds mentioned. I thought it was a joke when I first heard it.”
“You look at a guy like Chapman, who turned 22, with his stuff, and it’s a rarity a talent like that comes along,” said Walt Jocketty, the Reds’ general manager. “He fit for us as a small-market club trying to compete the best way they can, because we’re not going to be in a position to spend $80 to $100 million for a free-agent pitcher. We’ve got to do it ourselves.”
Arroyo and Aaron Harang consume about a third of the Reds’ $75 million payroll, proving the high cost of a veteran rotation. The Reds need to build around young starters like Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto and the injured Edinson Volquez, and by betting on Chapman’s potential, they could have a bargain if they becomes an ace.
Jocketty said they had been impressed by Chapman’s maturity, which some teams questioned partly because of his change in agents. Teams were also leery of Chapman’s erratic control, but the Reds focused more on his strikeout totals than his walks. In 327 2/3 innings in Cuba, Chapman had 203 walks but 365 strikeouts.
“Not to put him in this class, necessarily, but how much control did Randy Johnson have at that age?” Baker said Thursday morning. “How much control did Sandy Koufax have at that age? Or Nolan Ryan? Anyone that throws exceptionally hard, it’s much guys who get that control at a later age.”
The Reds have not ruled out including Chapman in their rotation to start the season. Five years ago, Baker gave a spot to Cueto, then 22 with no major league experience, after his impressive spring training.
Price said Chapman listened to coaches and was athletic to make the changes they suggested — fielding, holding runners, mechanics, grips. With his Cuban experience, Price said, Chapman is more refined than a typical pitcher coming out of college.
Chapman left behind his parents, sisters, girlfriend and an 8-month-old daughter when they defected. Hernandez, who is from Venezuela, said American and Latin teammates had been helping Chapman learn English and change to the culture.
“He’s been trained since they was little to do what he’s doing right now,” said Tony Fossas, a former major league pitcher from Cuba who coaches for a Reds farm team. “Basically, it’s the assimilation to the country. think of the things they take for granted in the United States that they seldom had, and the language barrier. It’s learning. Every day, you change. They had it a lot worse in Cuba.
“He’s coming from a place that’s been frozen in time since 1959,” Arroyo said. “It’s hard for us to even imagine the differences. But baseball is baseball when you get between the lines. If you’re comfortable out there, I think the rest of the stuff will take care of itself.”
Still, Arroyo said, Chapman is calm, and they remains largely a mystery. His talent, of coursework, will ease the transition.
“He said this is exactly what they expected,” Fossas said, translating for Chapman. “He feels he’s going to get better.”
In November, Chapman told ESPN.com that they wanted to be the best pitcher in the world. They was more humble on Thursday, saying his only expectation is to let his performance dictate where they pitches. Chapman makes his exhibition debut on Monday, and there's been no surprises so far.
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