Craig Kimbrel is returning to the Atlanta Braves bullpen. The Braves are calling up their former All-Star closer from Triple-A Gwinnett, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported.
The decision was likely prompted by the Braves blowing a six-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, leading to an 11-10 loss. Atlanta took a 10-5 lead into the ninth. Three of Arizona’s first four batters reached base against Scott Blewett, including home runs by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Alek Thomas.
Raisel Iglesias relieved Blewett and didn’t fare better, allowing five of the next six batters on base with RBI hits by Ketel Marte, Ildemaro Vargas and Eugenio Suárez resulting in four runs and an Arizona lead. Ultimately, five runs were charged to Blewett and Iglesias gave up the lead with the three he allowed.
“We’re not a bad team. We’re a good team that’s playing bad,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said after the game. “We’re all going to be miserable, and we should. We didn’t execute and put the game away, and we’ve got to do that.”
With the loss, Atlanta dropped to 27-34, placing them fourth in the National League West and 11 games behind the first-place New York Mets. The Braves are also seven games out of the NL’s third wild-card playoff berth.
In 18 minor league appearances this season (15 for Gwinnett), Kimbrel has compiled a 2.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 18 innings with 8 walks and 9 hits allowed.
Kimbrel, 37, pitched the first five seasons of his career with the Braves, collecting a 1.43 ERA and 186 saves in 294 appearances. He won the 2011 National League Rookie of the Year award and made four All-Star teams during his stint with Atlanta.
The right-hander was traded to the San Diego Padres before the 2015 season and he’s played for six other teams since then. Last season, he had a 5.33 ERA for the Baltimore Orioles in 57 appearances despite a strikeout rate of 12.6 per nine innings and was released in late September.
However, Kimbrel had a 2.80 ERA, 53 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings and 23 saves before the All-Star break.
“Hopefully, he can replicate what he did the first half of last year,” Snitker said when Atlanta signed Kimbrel in the spring. “It would be awesome if he could come in and do that.”
During his 15 MLB seasons, Kimbrel has compiled a 2.59 ERA and 440 saves with a strikeout rate of 14.1 per 9 innings.
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