The Cincinnati Reds, like many teams, enter Spring Training not knowing who their fifth starter will be, but with a number of candidates in the running. Unlike most teams, they have a 21-year-old left-handed Cuban defector who throws 100-mph competing for the job.
The Reds may not know what they have in Aroldis Chapman, and they certainly don't know what they'll get from him in 2010, but he will be given a chance to show them, and an opportunity to fill their 5th starter vacancy, reports Mark Sheldon for MLB.com. The Reds will have a better feel for how much of a possibility this really is once Chapman begins throwing to major league hitters this spring, but there is no doubt Chapman is more talented than his competition, which consists of Micah Owings, Justin Lehr, Mike Lincoln, and fellow prospects Travis Wood and Matt Maloney.