Craig Kimbrel was DFA’d by the Baltimore Orioles. Is this the last we’ve seen from the potential future Hall of Famer?
CP Craig Kimbrel was recently Designated for Assignment by the Baltimore Orioles, which will surely lead him to become a free agent. It is shocking to see a possible future Hall of Famer be let go, especially after he started the season off great. The Baltimore Orioles signed him to a one-year, $13 million dollar contract before the start of the season. This move that was supposed to give them some stability with CP Felix Bautista out for the year.
The addition wasn’t exactly one that excited many, as the right-hander was coming off a postseason collapse with the Philadelphia Phillies. Regardless, he was an All-Star last year and putting him on a young Orioles roster didn’t seem like such a bad idea. After a stellar first three months, Kimbrel has lost his velocity and ability to get outs, and so he also lost his spot on the team.
Craig Kimbrel’s HOF Career
Before going into what went wrong in Kimbrel’s Orioles tenure, it’s worth going over his incredible resume.
Craig Kimbrel has played 15 years in MLB, wearing eight different uniforms in his career. Kimbrel burst onto the scene with the Atlanta Braves in his first full season, winning Rookie of the Year, getting Cy Young and MVP votes, as well as being an All-Star. It would be more of the same for most of his career, already building up a HOF worthy resume in his first 8 seasons. From 2010-2018, Kimbrel had a 1.91 ERA in 532.2 IP all while collecting 333 saves for three different teams. In that time, he was a seven-time All-Star, receiving multiple top-five finishes in Cy Young voting as a closing pitcher.
2019 and 2020 saw Craig Kimbrel struggle for the first time in his career. Now with the Chicago Cubs, Kimbrel had an ERA of 6, while only combining for 41 games. His problem was the strike zone, walking 24 batters in 36 IP. The biggest positive was him collecting 58 strikeouts, showing there is still something left. The first half of 2021 saw Craig Kimbrel return to form, posting a 0.49 ERA and becoming an All-Star again. This made him a trade target, which led to the Chicago White Sox acquiring him at that year’s deadline. This definitely didn’t go as planned for both sides, as Kimbrel struggled. He had an ERA of 5.09, which led to the White Sox exiting the postseason early.
The White Sox then traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a rough first half, the right hander ended the season well with 22 total saves and an ERA+ at 108, barely above league average. This earned him a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. In an important bullpen role, he succeeded in Philly, going to his 9th All-Star Game and collecting 23 saves. His postseason with the club was awful though, having an ERA of 12.00 in the NLCS and taking 2 losses in their defeat at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Overall, Craig Kimbrel was a Rookie of The year, nine-time All-Star, 2018 World Series champion, and three-time reliever of the year.
A Tale of Two Halves
Craig Kimbrel’s Baltimore Orioles tenure got off to a great start. In the first half of the season, he posted a 2.80 ERA while striking out 53 batters in 35.1 innings. He collected 23 saves and held opponents to a .150 BA up until the All-Star break. Kimbrel’s fastball velocity averaged 96 up until that point as well, until suddenly dropping off.
The second half of the season saw a completely different guy closing out games for Baltimore. Craig’s ERA from the start of the second half is 10.59 in addition to walking 15 in 17 innings. Kimbrel’s last appearance for the team went as poorly as possible. He gave up six earned runs while only getting two outs in a 10-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. This was the worst outing in his career. The Orioles designated him for assignment soon after for the first time in his career, ending a disappointing tenure. Craig Kimbrel ended up blowing 6 saves, putting him 11th in MLB.
Since the Orioles acquired RPs Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto at the deadline, their bullpen should be fine without him. Even though they have 10th worst bullpen ERA in baseball, the team had to cut ties with Kimbrel as the team completely lost faith in him.
Could This Be it?
Craig Kimbrel will be turning 37 years old next year, coming off a bad season, but not one that a team might turn away from. Kimbrel’s walk issues reared their ugly head again, just like they did in his first two years with the Cubs. The biggest positive for him was he is still striking out a ton of hitters. I don’t think it’s crazy to say a team takes a chance on the veteran. It may not be as the closer, but it could give him another chance to prove he can still contribute.
Featured Articles
Featured Writers
