Hope Springs Eternal: Chapman Impresses for Reds while Strasburg Debuts for Nats

One hundred miles per hour is very fast. It’s even faster if you imagine that Aroldis Chapman – the $30-million lefty import from Cuba – threw 100 miles per hour in his debut outing for the Cincinnati Reds, in March. And he’s only 22 years old. Yes, 100 miles per hour is very fast indeed.↵

↵↵Chapman already has the Reds writers buzzing, too. Not only did he throw cheese, but he also pulled a pretty delicate string, striking out Kansas City’s Rick Ankiel on an 86-mph slider. Says C. Trent Rosencrans of CNATI.com:↵

↵↵⇥A 22-year old left-hander throwing 100 mph in early March -- not to mention the 80 mph change and a slider that got Kansas City’s Rick Ankiel to wave at for strike three? Six years, $30.25 million may be starting to sound like a bargain.↵⇥↵⇥In his first spring outing against another team, Chapman did not disappoint the 2,017 that showed for the Reds’ 15-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Goodyear Ballpark.↵⇥

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Now, Chapman seems far from ready to be anything close to an ace for Reds, and as CNATI points out, his command is still an issue. But, per the story on MLB.com, his control might be better than people expected:↵↵⇥Through the first few weeks of spring, Chapman has demonstrated remarkable control, especially with his secondary pitches -- the slider and changeup. Despite his inexperience, he is competing for the fifth spot in the Reds’ rotation and seems poised to make breaking camp a Major Leaguer more of a reality.↵↵It does seem crazy for the Reds to rush Chapman by throwing him into the fifth spot, but if they think he’s ready, they might as well start to get a return on the high-priced investment.↵

↵↵⇥Tuesday, Strasburg, for the first time against a team composed partly of major leaguers, will unveil the right arm that earned him a $15.1 million contract, an arm that has drawn the comparisons to Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden that make him queasy.↵⇥↵⇥It has become the marquee event of spring training, with the Nationals and otherwise, and his teammates are curious, too. “I cannot wait until 1:05,” Scott Olsen said. They’ll see a new piece of who he is.↵⇥

↵↵The Nationals, despite some offensive talent, are a moribund franchise and habitual basement dwellers in one of the league’s top divisions. The fact is, they just haven’t been able to pitch. So far this spring, things have been no different. The Nats have been out-scored 67-30 through six games, giving up 91 hits, 28 walks and 12 homers in 50 innings, and have yet to win a game. With the pitching predictably terrible thus far, fans hope that changes today. The game is on MLB Network and MLB.tv starting at 1:00 p.m. EST.↵