Craig Kimbrel is getting a bunch of new suitors.
Fans at Sun Trust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, screamed the name of the unsigned closer, who broke in with the Braves in 2011, while watching their bullpen squander successive seven-inning gems by starting pitchers.
Atlanta relievers couldn’t hold a 5-2 lead Tuesday, allowing the Arizona Diamondbacks to plate seven late runs, and gave the D’backs another gift Wednesday with three walks and an error by Jesse Biddle in the 10th inning.
Kimbrel, meanwhile, is waiting for a phone call.
The hard-throwing righthander, who worked for the world champion Boston Red Sox last season, has a 1.91 career earned run average. But he yielded more than five earned runs per game while battling control problems over the second half of last season – plus the postseason.
That made general managers leery of meeting the pitcher’s demands for a six-year, $100 million contract.
Though he is now 31, Kimbrel is beloved in Atlanta, where he once posted four straight 40-save summers. With 333 career saves, he’s also on target for a plaque in the Hall of Fame gallery.
Sometimes described as a righthanded Billy Wagner, Kimbrel is amazingly compact (6 feet and 210 pounds) for someone who throws so hard. He’s averaged 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings over his nine-year career, which includes seven trips to the All-Star Game. The former Rookie of the Year (with the 2011 Braves) has also led his league in saves four times.
The need for Kimbrel became acute in Atlanta this week when veteran closer Arodys Vizcaino went down for the season following shoulder surgery. That left the bullpen in the hands of second-year southpaw A.J. Minter and a collection of novices ranging from Chad Sobotka and Wes Parsons to
Luke Jackson and Biddle. That group hardly terrorizes opponents.
It might even be time to reactive 40-year-old Australian submariner Peter Moylan, who just joined Fox Sports South as a television analyst.
The Braves blew 20 save opportunities last season with many of the same names. That they still won 90 games, plus the National League East title, remains a greater mystery than Stonehenge.
After spending his first five years in Atlanta, Kimbrel was shipped to the Padres on the eve of the 2015 season as inducement for San Diego to assume the burdensome contract of Melvin Upton, Jr. (then known as B.J.). Not surprisingly, Kimbrel sizzled while Upton fizzled.
The Red Sox paid him $13 million last season and presented him with a qualifying offer exceeding $17 million but the pitcher refused. Instead, he asked for the moon, though he now may have to settle for a crescent.
Except for the New York Mets, who traded for Seattle closer Edwin Diaz, there are three National League East contenders with strong interest in Kimbrel. But the Braves, Phillies, and Nationals may also have to battle the Brewers for his services.
Milwaukee, seeking to repeat in the NL Central, lost erstwhile closer Corey Knebel to injury, leaving the team with a bullpen void similar to those in Atlanta (without Vizcaino) and Philadelphia, where new closer David Robertson is also on the injury list. Washington’s relief corps, though devoid of injury issues, has personified the surname of closer Sean Doolittle.
In Atlanta, where general manager Alex Anthopoulos electrified the fan base last week by doling out long-term megabucks contracts to Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Ozzie Albies earlier this month, no off-season move was made to fortify a suspect pitching staff.
Now, with injuries making a bad bullpen worse, Braves fans are hoping there’s a little bit left in the well.
Kimbrel and agent David Meter have reportedly lowered their demands, perhaps to half of their original request. Based upon the pitcher’s track record, some contender should be willing to offer three years and $50 million, maybe with a couple of club options thrown in.
Waiting til after the June amateur draft, which would preclude the signing club from forfeiting a draft pick as compensation, might not be an option in a game where he who hesitates is lost.
Craig Kimbrel is tired of hesitating. He’s ready to rock, roll, and perhaps do The Chop.
