Love him or hate him, the Chicago Cubs probably don’t win the World Series without Aroldis Chapman. Forget the game-tying home run in Game 7 for just a moment. Down the stretch, he pitched to a sub-2.00 ERA and did everything asked of him in the postseason for Joe Maddon.
And, this winter, he criticized Maddon for just that – a workload that far exceeded what you see from most relievers today. The most oft-criticized decision of Maddon’s tenure came late in the Fall Classic. With Chicago up big in Game 6, Chapman came out for the ninth inning.