Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman activated from the disabled list

This has been a rough season as far as injuries go. Key members of this Yankees squad have spent significant time on the disabled list, including Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Masahiro Tanaka, and Aroldis Chapman. Roughly two months after breaking his wrist, Judge finally made his return to the lineup last night. More good news follows today: Chapman will return to the bullpen tonight.

The Yankees closer missed nearly a month with knee tendinitis. It wasn’t surprising to see him end up on the disabled list as he had been feeling pain since all the way back in May. At the time, it was determined that he could continue to pitch through the pain. His month long stint on the DL begs the question of whether that was a good idea.

Chapman, 30, recorded 31 saves prior to landing on the disabled list. He pitched well, tossing 47 innings of 2.11 ERA (1.89 FIP) ball. His 16.09 K/9 rate and 46.2% groundball rate also eclipsed his career norms. His 2017 struggles seemed, for the most part, a thing of the past.

At any rate, it’s great to have both Judge and Chapman back ahead of the postseason. With two weeks to go, both players will hopefully have time to get into the swing of things before the Wild Card Game.