Aroldis Chapman scratched from AFL start

This isn’t a big deal, but it’s certainly not great news: Aroldis Chapman was scratched from his planned Arizona Fall League start on Monday because of a sore left shoulder. The Reds’ left-hander made two relief appearances for the Phoenix Desert Dogs last week in the AFL. “He had a little inflammation in his shoulder,” said Reds general manager Walt Jocketty. “It was probably from trying to do too much, too soon. He didn’t do a lot before going down there.” Chapman, who threw 2 2/3 innings of relief and gave up one hit and one run, was pitching in the AFL to begin a transition towards becoming a starter next season for Cincinnati. He was expected to start some games and stretch out his arm in Puerto Rican winter ball next month. As noted by brilliant reader pinson343 in the comments: “His shoulder gets inflamed pretty easily – that was his physical problem when he went on the DL. Yet another reason he shouldn’t be a reliever. Regular work, with 4 days of rest in between, will be b...