{"id":166693,"date":"2022-12-24T02:03:09","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T02:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/phillies-to-sign-craig-kimbrel\/"},"modified":"2022-12-24T02:03:09","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T02:03:09","slug":"phillies-to-sign-craig-kimbrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/phillies-to-sign-craig-kimbrel\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies To Sign Craig Kimbrel"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Phillies are adding an established closer. They’re reportedly in agreement with Craig Kimbrel<\/strong> on a one-year, $10MM pact. Kimbrel is a SportsMeter client.<\/p>\n Philadelphia will be the seventh MLB team for Kimbrel, who is headed into his 14th season. He returns to the NL East, where he was arguably the sport’s best closer from 2011-14 as a member of the Braves. Kimbrel remained excellent after being dealt to the Padres and subsequently to the Red Sox. Dave Dombrowski was running baseball operations in Boston while Kimbrel was there for three straight All-Star seasons between 2016-18. They’re now reunited with Dombrowski leading the charge in Philly.<\/p>\n Since leaving the Red Sox, Kimbrel has had his share of ups and downs. He lingered in free agency until June 2019 before securing a three-year commitment from the Cubs. That deal looked like a misfire after he posted an even 6.00 ERA in 41 appearances through the end of the 2020 campaign. However, he looked good as ever at the start of the third season. The right-hander posted a microscopic 0.57 ERA through 31 2\/3 innings in the first half of 2021, securing his eighth All-Star selection in the process. The Cubs flipped him to the crosstown White Sox in a deadline deal that brought back Nick Madrigal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Kimbrel didn’t finish the season all that well, posting a 5.09 ERA for the Sox. Chicago exercised a $ 16MM option on his services for the 2022 season but shopped him most of last winter. In the days leading up to Opening Day, they sent him to the Dodgers in a one-for-one swap for AJ Pollock<\/strong>. Kimbrel spent his age-34 campaign in Los Angeles, putting up solid numbers overall but showing some worrisome signs down the stretch.<\/p>\n While his first half ERA was a pedestrian 4.35, he struck out more than a third of opponents in that time. The Dodgers relied upon him as their primary closer early in the year, but he began to fall out of favor as the season pulled along. Kimbrel’s strikeout rate in the second half was a modest 20.7%. His ERA checked in at 3.10 thanks to a meager .227 batting average on balls in play against him. The Dodgers were clearly skeptical of Kimbrel’s ability to maintain that kind of batted ball fortune. They removed him from the ninth inning in September and scratched him from the roster entirely come playoff time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n