No one other than the front office things he should be starting. He doesn’t want to. His manager doesn’t want him to. The scouts think he’s going to flame out as a starter.

Neftali Feliz matches precisely the criteria you laid you. To a T. Tommy John surgery after 7 starts. It’s unpredictable, so why mess with what’s working? Sure, his elbow could go pop his first inning out as a reliever, but why tempt fate as a starter?

Chapman, based on his low WHIP and his insanely high strike-out rate, is much better designed to be inserted in, and convert on, high leverage positions. Grounders and fly balls don’t always prevent runners from advancing or scoring, but strikeouts do. As a result of his nature as a pitcher, Chapman is best utilized in high stress positions with high leverage, because he will be able to get the Reds out of the jam much greater frequently than anyone else on the roster (and with much greater frequency than Sam LeCure, whom the Reds used almost exclusively in those situations last year).

Chapman, if not a starter, should be the Reds’ super reliever, designed to come into the tough situations when the Reds are in a jam. Being as good as he is, no one on the Reds is better at stopping the bleeding than Chapman. Moreover, now that he is “stretched out” he can have game appearances that last longer than one innings, which could allow him to increase his overall usage.

If he’s saying he wants to close then that’s it Let him close. He did awesome Job last yr why ruin it So what if they signed broxton. Use him for 7th n 8th More bullpen depth never hurt anybody. It’s a long season

U see what happen to joba. Yanks didn’t know what to do with him back n forth they ruined his career

Then, two years before free agency, he can convert to the starting rotation, giving him enough time to establish himself as a starter and reap the big contract.