The Atlanta Braves have had plenty of issues with their bullpen this season and fans saw Craig Kimbrel as a solution. The veteran reliever that ranks fifth all-time with 440 career saves worked his way back to the majors on a minor league contract and got a hero’s welcome when he was called up on June 6.
All the fan fare lasted one game as Kimbrel made one appearance in Friday’s loss to the San Francisco Giants and was designated for assignment after the game. Kimbrel landed on his feet by agreeing to a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, but everyone including a Braves veteran has a bad taste in their mouth over how things went down.
Brian McCann Blasts Braves Over Craig Kimbrel Treatment
Braves catcher Brian McCann, who was Kimbrel’s teammate at Triple-A Gwinnett and with the Baltimore Orioles last season, sounded off on the Braves’ decision making on Kimbrell, saying the team should have stuck with him longer than just a short inning in San Francisco.
“That really frustrated me and a lot of the guys in our locker room were very frustrated with it,” McCann told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon. “It was strange to call him up for a day and DFA him. He’s not just a run-of-the-mill reliever who became a journeyman after two or three years in the big leagues. He’s a future Hall of Famer.”
While McCann was frustrated with the situation, the Braves may have also had some reasons for the move. Kimbrel tossed a scoreless inning in his outing against the Giants but his fastball velocity was down from 93.2 mph at Triple-A to 91.6 mph on Saturday. Atlanta also had load management issues in their bullpen after Garrett Holmes lasted only 3.1 innings in a 11-10 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
But McCann thought his former teammate deserved a better fate and his drop in velocity was caused by the long flight to San Francisco.
“I’m not going to speak for Craig, but he was also on a cross-country flight that morning. Maybe he didn’t have his legs under him, I’m not sure,” McCann said. “At the end of the day he put up a zero. You can’t ask for much more than a zero when you take the mound.”
Regardless of cross-country flights or the state of the Braves’ bullpen, it could have used Kimbrel for the long haul. The 37-year-old had a 2.45 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP with 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings for the Stripers this season and appeared to put last year’s struggles with the Orioles (7-5, 5.33 ERA) behind him. It was also a homecoming as Kimbrel began his career with the Atlanta Braves in 2010 and made four straight All-Star teams from 2011 to 2014 before he was traded to the San Diego Padres in 2015.
But the decision to ditch him immediately is another strike with fans and veterans alike. Atlanta snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday but returned to the loss column with a 4-1 loss on Tuesday night. At 28-38, the Braves are 14.5 games back of the New York Mets for first place in the National League East and their chances at a postseason berth are fading.
It’s a tough look for a team that is circling the drain in a lost season, but Kimbrel has landed on his feet in Texas while the Braves are left to find their footing.