Yes, Aroldis Chapman is going to be mentioned in this piece. No, I’m not saying that Mauricio Cabrera is the next Aroldis Chapman. However…
As far as fastball velocity goes, these two are in a category of their own. However, velocity isn’t everything– especially when it doesn’t amount to a lot of swing-and-misses.
Last season, Aroldis Chapman was 5th in all of baseball in K%, at 40.5%. Mauricio Cabrera, on the other hand, was 165th among relievers with at least 30 IP with a 19.8 K%. So why did Mauricio Cabrera have such difficulty striking batters out?