Even with Craig Kimbrel, Phillies will continue to mix and match in the 9th inning
During the 2022 postseason, seven different relievers threw the final pitch in a Phillies victory. Five relievers earned at least one save. Rob Thomson’s mixing and matching in big spots and having success while doing it is a huge reason why the Phillies advanced as far as they did.
For the Phillies, sticking with that plan makes sense, even after signing MLB’s active saves leader.
2022 was an up-and-down year for Craig Kimbrel as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He posted a solid 3.75 ERA, but lost the closer’s job near the end of the season and was left off the Dodgers’ NLDS roster.
During the first half of the season, he struck out 47 batters over 31 innings, but had a 4.35 ERA and an extraordinarily high .395 batting average on balls in play. He gave up fewer runs in the second half, but the strikeouts were down and he lost velocity during the final few weeks of the season.
“I think there were times, more than I can count on two hands, that I felt like I was going out there and battling myself other than battling the guy in the box,” Kimbrel said in his introductory news conference on Thursday.
On the call, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski mentioned multiple times the importance of constructing a bullpen full of guys who can pitch with a one-run lead. Knowing him from his time in Boston, Dombrowski is confident Kimbrel can fill that role with the Phillies.
“One of the questions that you talk about is, ‘Well, how will somebody handle Philadelphia? How will somebody be on the ball club?’ Those are easy questions,” Dombrowski said. “You don’t have to do any digging in that because I know Craig, know his work ethic, know the type of person that he is, know that he can fit in very well, know what he can do at the back end of the game. That was very simple.”
But if the plan is to give Kimbrel many, but not all of the opportunities to preserve a one-run lead late in the game, well, both sides have some work to do.
The Dodgers asked Kimbrel to enter the game with a one-run lead six times in 2022. He left the mound with either the lead or a victory only once.
“I think realizing that after the season, there were times where things were going like they were supposed to and I got on a roll but then there were times where I was walking guys, hitting guys 0-2 because I was throwing my breaking ball and it was hitting him in the foot. I think last year I gave up enough singles for three years,” Kimbrel said.
In discussions with Kimbrel, the Phillies, namely pitching coaches Caleb Cotham and Brian Kaplan, presented him with their thoughts on what happened in 2022 and some adjustments Kimbrel can make to improve in 2023.
“Going through those bad stretches has helped me really dig in and realize what works for me and what does not work,” Kimbrel said. “With the analytics and the way that the pitches are looked at, the spin is looked at, the arm angle and all these things that I’ve been able to learn about myself personally over the years, I feel like it’s something that’s going to be able to help me prolong my career.”
Thomson, according to Dombrowski, also spoke with Kimbrel and made sure he was comfortable with occupying a role that did not necessarily guarantee opportunities to close out games. The 34-year-old is six saves away from 400 in his career and he expects to get there at some point. Regardless of his role with the club, he’s likely to get there in a Phillies uniform.
“I personally feel like I have a lot of baseball to play,” Kimbrel said.
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