Craig Kimbrel was on pace to be one of the greatest closers of all-time. Statistically, Kimbrel was better than Mariano Rivera at that point in his career. Kimbrel’s agent had every right to claim that too. The red bearded one waited and waited for a big contract this offseason. He didn’t sign a deal until June when the Cubs signed him to a 3-year deal worth $45 million. What could have been a steal turned into a disaster. Kimbrel has fallen off a cliff.
Kimbrel has a 6.43 ERA in 2019. That’s in 23 games. Kimbrel only recorded 13 saves in those outings. He’s blown a hell of a lot more games than he’s saved. Kimbrel’s strikeout rate is still respectable. He’s striking out 13.1 batters per 9. That’s good. However, the walks are up to 5.2 per 9 and home runs at 3.9 per 9. That right there tells you all you need to know. The command is not there.
The biggest issue is missing spring training. Pitchers can’t miss spring training. There is so much time and preparation that’s needed to go into the season. A year ago, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn missed spring training. Both guys had
Kimbrel hasn’t just been bad. He’s unplayable. The Cubs basically stopped pitching him down the stretch. You have to wonder if there’s something mental here. Kimbrel has been bad since the 2018 postseason. The Red Sox wouldn’t even put him in the game for the final 3 outs of the World Series. Kimbrel has turned into a joke with the Cubs. If he comes into the game, he will blow the game. Put it in the books.
Kimbrel has given up 9 home runs in barely over 20 innings. I would throw up if I had to watch that. I said it in my post at the time. The Red Sox needed a closer. The price tag for Kimbrel seemed okay at the time. However, when you look back on it. Why did they give him $45 million in June? This should have been a one-year pact.
Can we also stop pretending that Theo Epstein is the greatest gm in the world? He’s so overrated. In fact, that’s probably my next post. Signing Kimbrel isn’t even his 10 top worst decisions. Just with the Cubs he’s given bad contracts to Tyler Chatwood, Yu Darvish, and Jason Heyward. I watched him give Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and JD Drew big money. Epstein whiffs on free agents ALL THE TIME. Stop crowning Theo as some sort of genius. He’s not that smart.
