Over the course of what has been dubbed both “the Year of the Pitcher” and “the Year of the Rookie,” the baseball viewing world has ridden quite the figurative roller coaster.
At the beginning of the 2010 season, the world was abuzz with expectation and prediction regarding Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg, and he didn’t fail to impress, striking out 14 batters in six innings in his major league debut. Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived, and we won’t be hearing from Strasburg until some time in 2012.
Never fear, though: there is a new phenom of the month, and his name is Aroldis Chapman. Like Strasburg, Chapman has the ability to kick the radar gun up over 100 mph. His 103 has been the talk of baseball.
But are we just setting ourselves up for another fall? Is Chapman simply destined to suffer the same fate as Strasburg?
Here’s ten reasons to think maybe he is.