For many years,  Aroldis Chapman watched the Pirates from afar. He began his career with the Reds for six seasons, and his rate of 15.4 strikeouts per nine innings put the baseball world on notice if they weren’t already.

Then he moved to the Cubs the next season after a midseason trade from the Yankees and won his first of two World Series titles, with the other coming last year with the Rangers after another midseason trade, this time by the Royals.

Those years in the National League Central allowed Chapman to visit PNC Park a lot, and now, he is thrilled to call it home.

“I’ve always liked playing here in Pittsburgh,” Chapman said via an interpreter. “I think it’s a great fanbase, and the ballpark is beautiful. It’s one of the best, one of the prettiest in the league -- at least I think so. I’m very excited to be here.”

Chapman’s signing was a bit out of the blue, considering the Pirates’ biggest area of need this offseason was the starting rotation. The need is so big that the Bucs signed two veteran players to one-year deals, yet they’re still in the market for another starter.

But there’s more than one way to cover innings, and another method is to have a bullpen so deep that starters don’t have to labor to try to go deep with leads intact. Chapman certainly stretches out the reliever group, and with a 2.53 ERA, he has the track record to prove he can still be one of the best at what he does.

Chapman also feels he’s at his best when a team is going for it. With the development of players like  Ke’Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Jack Suwinski and David Bednar among others during general manager Ben Cherington’s regime, on top of the short-term MLB additions like Rowdy Tellez, Marco Gonzales, Martín Pérez and Chapman, the Pirates are hoping they can weather some key injuries to reach .500 for the first time since 2018.

And with no team that looks like it will run away with the NL Central, the Pirates aren’t out of the conversation for the division title and a berth to the postseason for the first time since 2015.

“I think the first goal you set in your mind is you want to win that division,” Chapman said. “So I think it's a group of young guys that really go out there and give it their all and try to win a lot of games. I feel excitement in being a part of that.

“I'm an athlete who likes to compete, so being here with a team who really wants to get in this division race and start winning was good for me.”

While Chapman has been a closer for much of his career, he also understands where he’s at in his career and how his performance might move him from that role. Over the past four seasons, he’s recorded a 3.49 ERA with some command issues, while Bednar has a 2.25 ERA in 172 games for the Pirates and posted 39 saves last season -- one more than Chapman has ever produced in a single season.

Chapman is a team player. He just wants to win.

"I'll just stress that there is a very good closer, so I am very flexible and I just want to help the team out,” Chapman said. “So wherever they see fit to put me, I'm willing to help out."

Which year did Chapman receive a vote or more in the NL Cy Young Award and NL MVP Award races?

A) 2012
B) 2015
C) 2016
D) 2019

Beloved Pirates catcher  Russell Martin was shown love by his home country this past week, as he was announced as a member of the 2024 class of inductees into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Martin was only in Pittsburgh for two seasons, but they were two of the biggest seasons in recent club history. His first season was 2013, when the Pirates reached the postseason for the first time since 1992. And in that postseason, Martin provided one of the most famed home runs in Pittsburgh history in what we now know as the Cueto game … or should I say the “Cueeeto!” game.

In 2014, Martin was even more potent offensively, and it earned him 21 vote points in the NL MVP Award balloting to put him in 13th place. His .832 OPS that season was his highest outside of his sophomore season, when he was an All-Star, won a Gold Glove and took home a Silver Slugger with the Dodgers.

It’s a well-deserved honor for Martin, who went from Pittsburgh after the 2014 season to be with his native Toronto Blue Jays. Congrats to him on a great career.

A) 2012

Chapman was a key part of the NL Central-winning Reds that season, recording a 1.51 ERA with 38 saves in 43 opportunities. His 0.809 WHIP that season is the best mark of his career. However, he wasn’t the only reliever to get votes for those awards that year: Craig Kimbrel had one of the most dominating relief seasons of the decade, with a 1.01 ERA and 42 saves for the Braves.

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