About Aroldis Chapman
Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (Spanish: [aˈɾoldis ˈtʃaβman]; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates and in the Cuban National Series for Holguín. Chapman bats and throws left-handed, and is nicknamed "the Cuban Missile", due to his high fastball velocity. A member of the 300 save club, Chapman is the all-time career leader in strikeouts for relievers. Chapman pitched for Holguín domestically and internationally for the Cuba national baseball team. He defected from Cuba in 2009 and signed a contract with the Reds in 2010. Chapman made his MLB debut that season. He won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award as the best relief pitcher for July 2012, was named to four straight National League All-Star teams from 2012 to 2015. The Reds traded Chapman to the Yankees after the 2015 season, and the Yankees traded Chapman to the Cubs during the 2016 season. With the Cubs, Chapman won Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. He rejoined the Yankees after the 2016 season. He was named an All-Star three times with the Yankees and was named the AL Reliever of the Year in 2019. Following six seasons with New York, Chapman signed a one-year deal with the Royals before being traded to the Rangers at the trade deadline, winning the 2023 World Series with the team for his second championship. Chapman played a year with the Pirates in 2024 and signed with the Red Sox in 2025, where he was named to his eighth and ninth All-Star Game. On July 11, 2014, Chapman broke the record, previously held by Bruce Sutter, for the most consecutive relief appearances with a strikeout, having struck out at least one batter in 40 consecutive appearances. Chapman's streak began on August 21, 2013, and lasted 49 consecutive games over two seasons, with the 49th and final game being on August 13, 2014. Chapman currently has the record for the fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB history, at 105.8 miles per hour (170.3 km/h), as well as the Guinness World Record for fastest baseball pitch. He began playing as a first baseman until the coach noticed that Chapman could throw well enough to become a pitcher, which Chapman began in 2003.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.