Craig Kimbrel rejoins Braves 11 years later, and their losing streak continues

New York Times

10 hours ago

SAN FRANCISCO – More than 2 1/2 months after Craig Kimbrel signed a minor-league deal with the Atlanta Braves, and two weeks after he called general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos to tell him he was ready, the team's all-time saves leader finally made it back.
The Braves added Kimbrel to the major league roster and joined the team in San Francisco for Friday's series opener against the Giants. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning in a game that ended like far too many have recently for the Braves — in a one-run loss, the fifth consecutive defeat for Atlanta and 12th in 15 games.
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'It feels good (to be back),' said Kimbrel, a 15-year veteran who began his career with the Braves but last pitched for them in 2014. 'I've been working hard for the last couple of months to get back here, and whatever the circumstances are, it's great to be back to come and help this ballclub. Throw up some zeroes, do my job and just enjoy it.'
He threw up a zero, but he and the Braves didn't enjoy Friday night, which ended with another loss for Atlanta. The spiraling Braves have not enjoyed much lately.
They lost 5-4 in 10 innings Friday on a walk-off wild pitch by Pierce Johnson, whose curveball bounced wide of Sean Murphy, allowing Tyler Fitzgerald to score as Atlanta absorbed its third consecutive one-run loss and fifth in the past 13 games.
The Braves stink in close games, partly because of their bullpen but also because of their poor situational hitting. They were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position Friday. They got a tying two-run homer from Matt Olson in the seventh inning, and nearly a grand slam by Alex Verdugo, whose fourth-inning fly sailed wide of the right-field foul pole.
They left the bases loaded in the 10th, failing to score after advancing the ghost runner to third with one out.
The Braves and Giants have each played 26 games decided by one run, tied for the most in the majors, and Atlanta has lost 17, while San Francisco has won 14. The Braves' 13-24 record in games decided by one or two runs is third-worst in the majors, better than the Chicago White Sox (6-24) and Colorado Rockies (9-22).
That helps explain why the Braves are 27-35 and in fourth place in the National League East, 12 games behind the division-leading New York Mets and 3 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Florida Marlins.
And so it goes.
Kimbrel's fastballs Friday averaged 91.5 mph, far below the 97-99 mph heat he delivered during his closer heyday with the Braves more than a decade ago. He gave up a soft single and a walk to the first two batters he faced.
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He got through the inning with three batters faced, thanks to a terrific throw by Murphy to throw out Heliot Ramos trying to steal second base and Kimbrel's pick-off of Jung Hoo Lee at first base. Kimbrel struck out Wilmer Flores to end the inning and keep the score 4-4.
'Kind of lucked out in it a little bit, obviously,' Snitker said. 'I'm glad he got through it. It's good to kind of get him out there for the first time. So, you know, we'll see.'
Now pitching for your Atlanta Braves, number 46, Craig Kimbrel!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/9LrDO5pSXv
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 7, 2025
The move to add Kimbrel, 37, came after Atlanta's bullpen imploded in one of the team's worst losses in recent memory Thursday, when the Arizona Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the ninth inning to win 11-10 in Atlanta.
Before Friday's game, Kimbrel wished happy birthday to his son, Joseph, who turned 3 Friday, and talked about how pleased he was to rejoin the team with whom the Huntsville, Ala., native began his career. The team that his grandmother still watches play every game, and she was thrilled about Kimbrel wearing the 'A' on his cap again.
The Braves put setup man Daysbel Hernández on the 15-day injured list Friday with forearm inflammation, and traded reliever Scott Blewett back to the Baltimore Orioles for cash, one day after Blewett was charged with five runs, including four in that ninth-inning collapse.
They also recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd, attempting to do something, anything, to get things turned around with their bullpen and their team in general.
'I think where we're at right now, it's good to have two fresh arms,' Snitker said.
Kimbrel rejoins the Braves at the Giants' ballpark where he pitched in the NL Division Series as a rookie in 2010, when he worked two perfect innings with four strikeouts in Game 2, the only win for Atlanta and retiring manager Bobby Cox in that series.
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'Yeah, the playoffs in 2010,' Kimbrel said, smiling at the memory. 'This still is one of my favorite ballparks, and moments (like that), things that you enjoy and you remember and that make them your favorite in your life. And that playoffs there was kind of my welcome to the big leagues moment. This place is electric when it's sold out in the playoffs, so it is good to be back.'
Closer Billy Wagner strained an oblique in that Game 2 win, the last game pitched by the Hall of Famer, and Kimbrel, who was 22 at the time, was brought in with a runner on base and none out in the ninth inning of Game 4 in Atlanta, the Braves trailing 3-2.
Kimbrel got three quick outs by striking out Buster Posey and getting Travis Ishikawa to ground into a double play. But the Braves failed to score in the bottom of the ninth.
Kimbrel took over as closer in 2011, when he led the NL with 46 saves and a staggering 41.5 percent strikeout rate, piling up 127 strikeouts with 32 walks in 77 innings.
He was the unanimous NL Rookie of the Year winner, ahead of teammate Freddie Freeman. It marked the first of four consecutive All-Star appearances for Kimbrel, who during that dizzying five-year span in 2010-2014 compiled a 1.43 ERA in 294 appearances for Atlanta, with 186 saves and 476 strikeouts in 289 innings. He finished in the top nine in Cy Young balloting each of those All-Star seasons and received MVP votes in three.
In short, Kimbrel had one of the greatest five-year stretches of any closer in history, then was traded to San Diego just before Opening Day in 2015 when the Braves were shaving payroll and needed to move him to dump B.J. Upton's bad contract.
Kimbrel has pitched for seven other major league teams since leaving Atlanta. He's never been as elite as he was with the Braves, but he had some standout seasons, making five more All-Star teams and also getting Cy Young votes in 2017 with the Boston Red Sox.
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One year ago, he had a 2.10 ERA at the All-Star break with the Orioles, but he dealt with a balky back that worsened as the season progressed. After posting an 11.50 in 19 appearances after July 14, Baltimore released Kimbrel in September.
He signed a minor-league deal with the Braves late in spring training, spent a few weeks in Florida pitching his way into game shape and then went to work in the minor leagues, making three Double A appearances before moving up to Triple-A Gwinnett and posting a 2.45 ERA in 15 appearances.
Kimbrel had a recent stretch of seven scoreless appearances in which he allowed two hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts in seven innings before giving up two hits and two runs in his final appearance Wednesday.
He had a clause in his contract that would force the Braves to bring him to the majors or release him if another team made a major-league offer.
'I mean, it was tough,' he said of waiting. 'This is where I want to be. It came out that (going elsewhere if offered a contract with another team) was an option, but I wanted to be here in Atlanta. This is the team, the jersey I want put on. Obviously, I wanted to be a couple weeks ago, but I didn't let it bother me too much, because I still got work to do.
'I knew at some point I was going to be throwing the ball, and I'm glad it's right now.'
The clause in his contract wasn't a factor.
'There's a couple different reasons for that,' Kimbrel said candidly. 'I mean, obviously you got to have suitors on the other side as well, right? So, some of those things just didn't work out.'
Friday, he was back with the Braves, pitching on a mound where he made a lasting memory 15 years earlier.
'I told him, I said, 'I remember kind of when he became Craig Kimbrel was here,'' said Snitker, who was the third base coach on that 2010 team and saw Kimbrel warm up with particular gusto in the postseason. 'After Billy pulled his oblique, I remember (Kimbrel) warming up and thinking, yeah, that's something special right there.'
Snitker added, 'It's good to see him. He's worked hard to get back here. So, hopefully he can help us out.'