Phillips And Chapman Update

By:  Cooper Ledford


Last night the Reds were playing the Padres, a game in which two Reds appeared to be hurt.  One player was Brandon Phillips, the other, Aroldis Chapman.


Let's start with B-Phil.  He said he injured his groin somehow in the 8th inning, but he said that he would be ready to play come Friday.  But I really would not be surprised if Dusty lets him have the day off on Friday, maybe even Saturday, just to make sure he is back to 100% and won't hurt himself any worse.

Okay, now onto the Cuban Missile.  Last night he was pitching in the mid to low 90's, still fast, but for him, it is really slow.  When you see him come in to pitch, you expect 100 mph in each at-bat, but he did not hit triple digits at all last night.  There has been no word that he has anything wrong with him, but many Reds "experts", including myself, think it is simply that he can not handle pitching in back-to-back games.  I mean, you try and throw 105 one night, and the next day tell me if your arm is hurting.  Is it?  Yes, it is.  I expect Chapman to be fine, and be back to hitting the century mark in speed real soon.