Part 4 in a series analyzing the New York Yankees.

The last time we saw Aroldis Chapman in a game that counted, he was walking off the Minute Maid Park mound as Jose Altuve toured the bases after hitting a home run to left field that sent the Astros to the World Series and the Yankees home last October.

In the bottom of the ninth of ALCS Game 6, Chapman walked George Springer on five pitches with two outs and the bases empty. Two fastballs missed before an off-speed pitch was called a strike. Chapman stayed away from his overpowering heater and fed Altuve another slider clocked at 83 mph. From the nano-second the pitch hit Altuve’s bat there was no doubt the Yankees’ season was finished.

Throughout the 2019 season, the Astros were accused of swiping signs at home. That Altuve was on a second straight slider from Chapman and signaled to his teammates to not rip off his jersey while nearing home plate added fuel to the allegations that increased when MLB said the Astros were guilty of sign-stealing via in-game video in 2017. That led to GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch being suspended and eventually fired following the 2019 season.

Chapman had all winter to get over the cruel ending and he arrived in spring training with his sculpted body intact. One month later, MLB ended spring training and nobody knows when or if the regular season will begin.

Judging by recent pictures on social media, the 32-year-old closer has improved the size of his dock rope arms in front of the first leg of a three-year, $48 million extension he signed last November.

When the 2020 season starts, Chapman will be relied on to get the final three outs of a victory and be a big part of what many considered in spring training to be the best bullpen in baseball.

How much time would Chapman need to be ready for a shortened season? He made two spring training appearances, the first one March 6 and worked two innings.

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A six-time All-Star and a 10-year veteran, Chapman has averaged 57 appearances in the past three seasons with the Yankees. And his calling-card fastball didn’t slip last year when he averaged 98 mph with the four-seamer and 100 mph with the sinker.

Other positives for Chapman: The 60 appearances were his most since 2015 (65 with the Reds), the 37 saves were the highest since 2013 (38 with the Reds) and 57 innings were the most since 2016 (58 with the Yankees and Cubs). He also avoided the injured list after landing there in each of the two previous seasons.

Had the season started on time (March 26), the Yankees’ pen had a chance to be better than last year — when it tied the Twins in saves with 50 in 78 chances — because the plan was for Chad Green, who was used as an opener 15 times a year ago, wasn’t needed for that role in the grand plan.

With James Paxton (back surgery) on the shelf, that called for Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, Jordon Montgomery and possibly Jonathan Loaisiga to be in the rotation.

A lot has been made of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton benefiting from a delayed opening to the season because they weren’t expected to be ready on Opening Day because of injury. Yet, a shortened schedule — say it starts in July — would mean Chapman would have three fewer months of wear and tear on his body.