'It's a great feeling': Chapman pumped to boost Bucs

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Aroldis Chapman brings know-how and star quality to the Pirates’ bullpen this season.

Chapman, who signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal, has a record-setting 106 mph fastball to go along with 321 saves and World Series-winning experience.

“No one brings it bigger,” manager Derek Shelton said before Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning with two strikeouts in Saturday’s 8-5 loss to the Tigers. “We’re talking about a guy who pitched and broke one of the longest streaks in sports history in Chicago [with the Cubs' 2016 World Series title]. And Texas last year, winning a World Series.”

Chapman, 36, relishes the opportunity to work with Pittsburgh’s young pitchers and share his wealth of experience.

“It’s a great feeling just to come to a really young team,” Chapman said, speaking with reporters for the first time this spring via translator Stephen Morales. “The welcome was unbelievable. And to a team that is full of talent. It feels good to be here.”

Chapman threw that record-setting fastball for the Reds against the Pirates in 2011, and it was a high and inside pitch to current teammate Andrew McCutchen. He also hit McCutchen with a fastball in 2012 that drew the ire of the usually laidback Pirates star.

Chapman said he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to speak to McCutchen.

“We haven’t talked too much. Spring Training is kind of tough with pitchers on one side, position players on another side. But we have a really good relationship. What happened in the past is in the past, but we’re really good friends. We have no issues. We played together in New York [for the Yankees in 2018], too. It’s all good.”

Chapman began as a fastball-slider pitcher, but added a sinker and most recently a splitter.

“[The splitter] is definitely a weapon,” Shelton said. “…It has been a really effective pitch for him to be able to attack not only right-handers with. I think it’s a sign that he knows he throws hard. He knows the maturation. But he also knows that he has to get outs. Adding weapons to be able to facilitate outs, however he can, I think it’s something he has learned since he’s gotten older.”

Why did he expand his pitching repertoire?

“You have to keep up with the game,” said Chapman. “That’s why I have so many pitches. I’ve been throwing the split more and making sure it works. The evolution of the game is basically what makes me throw all my pitches.”

Chapman’s last season with double-digit saves came in 2021 with 30 for the Yankees, and Pittsburgh is set with closer David Bednar. However, Bednar’s been held out of pitching with tightness in his right lat muscle, and Shelton said he would have an update on his status Sunday.

The seven-time All-Star closer with 1,148 career strikeouts and 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings said he was excited to be in Pittsburgh’s bullpen.

“Excellent bullpen,” said Chapman, who averaged 15.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023. “Bednar at the end is a really strong piece for us. All of us, we’re going to try and do the job to prepare the game for him at the end.”

Both Chapman and starter Martín Pérez came to the Pirates from the Rangers this offseason.

“We’re like brothers,” Chapman said. “We’re trying as veterans to show this clubhouse and the young group of players that you can play the game and have fun. That’s one of the things that we’re here for -- to make sure the guys have fun and play the game they love.”

Chapman also discussed his deep love of baseball.

“Being from Cuba, that’s the main thing we do out there,” Chapman said. “I started playing at a very young age with friends out in the neighborhood, and I lived next to a park. It was very easy to fall in love with the game.”

Smith-Njigba on ‘vengeance tour’ to make team

Outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba hit his third homer in the last four games off Tigers starter Matt Manning. He made the Pirates’ Opening Day roster at the end of Spring Training last year -- when he led the team with 14 RBIs and batted .333 with three homers in 20 Grapefruit League games -- but hadn’t consistently produced productive at-bats until recently.

“With all the stuff that’s going on, I’m just on a vengeance tour right now,” said Smith-Njigba, now hitting .182 with three homers and five RBIs this spring. “I’m doing what I need to do every single day to prove that I’m an everyday player.”

Asked specifically about the “vengeance tour,” Smith-Njigba, who the Pirates designated for assignment in January and claimed off waivers in February, said, “I want to prove that I want to be here [and] that I’m willing to work. I love what we’re doing in the organization when it comes to the intent, and for us to win.”

“He hit the homer yesterday off [Max] Fried,” Shelton said. “He has continued to have good at-bats. We’re gonna look at him at both corner outfield spots. He needs to continue to improve and get better. It looks like he’s trending that way.”