Has Yankees' Aroldis Chapman lost his closer role (at least for now)?

OAKLAND, Calif. — A shaky Aroldis Chapman lost his job as Yankees closer shortly before the All-Star break this season, only to recapture it shortly after the second half began.

Is Chapman in danger of losing it again, if he hasn’t already?

Aaron Boone had no hesitation in yanking Chapman and replacing him with Wandy Peralta with two outs in the ninth inning, the bases loaded and a run home Tuesday night in Atlanta.

Peralta, a revelation since the Yankees acquired him from the Giants on April 27 for outfielder Mike Tauchman, retired Freddie Freeman on a long fly to leftfield to preserve a 5-4 victory, allowing the club bring an 11-game winning streak into the four-game series in Oakland that began Thursday night.

"Yeah, I mean we’ve got to figure it out," Boone said when asked if bringing in Peralta was an indication that the Yankees won't be going the traditional closer route for a while. "And the bottom line is a lot of people are doing some really good things down there and Chappie’s going to be one of them, too. And we just have got to continue to find ways to win games. And it really is just a little bit of an all-hands-on-deck, let’s-go-find-a-way [approach] and a lot of guys continue to step up."

Hardly a ringing endorsement for Chapman, who has posted a 3.86 ERA and gone 23-for-27 in save chances.

Before Tuesday’s rough ninth, Chapman had recorded a 1.04 ERA in his previous nine games, going 6-for-6 in save chances. But even in that stretch, his fastball velocity and command were inconsistent, and some opposing team scouts have speculated that he is over-relying on his slider as a result.

"His slider’s become a plus pitch and his splitter [at times] is, too, but his bread and butter is still that fastball," one rival scout said. "It’s still all about the fastball and he just doesn’t seem as comfortable with it [as in the past]."

If the Yankees choose for the time being to go with a closer-by-committee approach, Chad Green would seem to be the reliever getting the most chances. But despite putting together his typical solid and at times spectacular season — 7-5 with a 3.03 ERA with six saves — Green has not always shined in the later innings. He has an 8.38 ERA in the ninth inning (comprising 9 2/3 innings) and has blown four saves.

Jonathan Loaisiga is another option. He entered this series 8-4 with a 2.30 ERA, going 5-for-8 in save chances. He had held the opposition to a .236/.289/.291 slash line in what baseballreference.com defines as "high leverage" situations.

A third option to close could be Peralta. He had a 3.62 ERA in 42 games overall and a 3.10 ERA in 32 games since joining the Yankees in late April, going 3-for-3 in save chances in that stretch. And he had been even better in the eight games since coming off the COVID-19 injured list on Aug. 5, allowing zero earned runs in 11 2/3 innings, striking out nine and allowing one walk in that stretch.

Peralta has impressed the dugout with his on-mound courage, most strikingly Tuesday night, when he threw Freeman five straight changeups at one point during the at-bat.

"This guy is competitive, he’s fearless," Boone said. "He’s got the arsenal and the stuff to, I think, be a really good reliever in this game."

And perhaps to get even more opportunities in the final inning.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.