When Cuban Aroldis Chapman becomes the reliever with the most strikeouts in Major League history in the coming days, he should also be securing his ticket to the Hall of Fame.
The one from Holguín – at the time of writing this column – was just 15 fans away from equaling Hoyt Wilhelm’s historic mark. It will take days, yes, but not many for Chapman to displace the current leader and place his name at the top of a department reserved for dominant pitchers.
Chapman, now the closer for the Boston Red Sox, is averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings this season. His pace brings him closer to the record quickly, although it will also depend on Boston continuing to give him opportunities to work and thus officially become the strikeout king among relievers.
Leading that department would be, all things considered, as impressive as Nolan Ryan’s 5,714 strikeouts. The legendary right-hander, inducted to Cooperstown in 1999, needed 5,386 innings to reach that number, leaving an average of 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Chapman, on the other hand, has built his legacy from the bullpen. In his career he has only accumulated 883 innings of work and maintains an average of 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings. An absurd number even by current baseball standards.
But Chapman’s case is not summed up solely in numbers. For more than a decade he was probably the most intimidating reliever in the Major Leagues. His fastball of more than 100 miles per hour stopped being a rarity and became a custom. At a time when speed began to transform pitching, the Cuban set a benchmark from the bullpen.
Chapman not only racked up saves and strikeouts. He also helped redefine the profile of the modern closer. His ability to dominate short innings with pure power forced organizations to look for similar arms and raised the bar for those who take on the ninth inning. For years, facing Chapman at the end of a game was practically equivalent to a sentence.
That’s where his case for Cooperstown gains real strength. Because the Hall of Fame should not only be reserved for those who accumulate historical statistics, but also for those who changed the way the game is played.
Yes, there were ups and downs. Yes, his career had controversial moments. But when the debate moves exclusively to the field, it will be difficult to find strong arguments for leaving out the most dominant reliever of his generation and, possibly, the greatest strikeout to ever come out of a bullpen in the history of the Major Leagues.
When Chapman passes Wilhelm, he won’t just be breaking a record. He will be knocking on the doors of Cooperstown.
