The Dodgers used Craig Kimbrel for the last inning of today’s 10-3 win over the Marlins, and the reliever delivered a perfect frame to mop things up. While not a save situation for Kimbrel, manager Dave Roberts told J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter links) and other reporters that Kimbrel and the team have agreed to base the right-hander’s workload going forward not on save chances, but rather on just getting regular outings. This wouldn’t preclude Kimbrel being used in save opportunities, of course, and Roberts said he could still choose to use Kimbrel in consecutive games.
It has been a shaky year for the veteran reliever, as between a subpar walk rate and a lot of hard contact allowed, Kimbrel has only a 4.46 ERA over 42 1/3 innings. A big .388 BABIP is responsible for some of these struggles, but consistency has been hard to come by in Kimbrel’s first season in Los Angeles. It has turned the ninth inning into a question mark for the Dodgers heading into the postseason, and it could be that Kimbrel’s adjusted role could be the team’s way of auditioning some other relievers for the closer’s job as October looms. It is also possible the Dodgers will rotate Kimbrel and many other pitchers into save situations as circumstances dictate, which may concern L.A. fans who have seen late-game breakdowns doom the Dodgers in past postseason trips.
More from around the National League…
- The Nationals rotation will get a jolt this week, as both Erick Fedde and top prospect Cade Cavalli might be in the mix. Fedde is the surer thing, as manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that Fedde will be activated from the 15-day injured list and start Tuesday’s game with the Mariners. Right shoulder inflammation put Fedde out of action back on July 27, and the right-hander had a 4.95 ERA over 92 2/3 innings and 19 starts for Washington before going on the IL. Fedde is a potential non-tender candidate as he enters his second year of arbitration eligibility, though he’ll have a few more starts to make his case for another contract, plus the Nationals might be open to giving a former first-rounder another chance anyway as the team looks to rebuild. Cory Abbott will be moved to the bullpen to fit Fedde into the rotation.
- Cavalli was the 22nd overall pick of the 2020 draft, and is ranked within the top 60 on updated prospect lists from Baseball America (52nd) and MLB Pipeline (58th). It has been just a few days since Cavalli’s 24th birthday, and the right-hander has a 3.71 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate over 97 Triple-A innings this season. Control is the biggest question facing Cavalli, who otherwise has four plus pitches, highlighted by a 97mph fastball that earned a 70 grade from both BA and Pipeline. The Nationals’ rotation plans are somewhat unknown due to three off-days in the next eight-day span, but Zuckerman thinks Cavalli might be promoted during the team’s August 26-September 1 homestand.
- X-rays were negative on Jakob Junis’ left hand after the Giants starter was hit by a line drive in today’s game. Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado) that Junis will also get a CT scan tomorrow to further check for any damage. The discomfort was severe enough for Junis to be forced out of the game in the sixth inning. Since Junis is a right-handed pitcher and because San Francisco doesn’t play on either Monday or Thursday this week, it seems possible Junis might not need an IL trip or even technically any missed starts, if the off-days just push the rest of the rotation back. Junis has had a solid first year with the Giants, posting a 3.58 ERA over 78 innings despite a hamstring string that cost him over a month of action.
Dustin May would be a dynamite closer option for the playoffs if they do not use him out of the rotation
Definitely. The way he looks they might want to keep him starting or at least throwing multiple innings. If Kershaw comes back strong, Evan Phillips, Andrew Heaney, and Tyler Anderson might be better closer options in October.
They are going to need him in the rotation with the condensed NLDS and NLCS schedule
How is that going to work, exactly? Other than the wildcard series, the DS is still 2-2-1 and LS is 2-3-2.
There are no off days after game 2 of each series
Yup. This makes pitching depth extra important. Rotation and bullpen both.
Evan Phillips looks like their closer right now.
Yes, he has for awhile.
Will Phillips lose the spot tho when Blake is back?
Kimbrel came out to “let it go”
Yeah because nobody has recorded “Let Him Go.”
Kimbrel’s “perfect frame” today was three loud outs to RF. Looks good on the box score, but not anywhere else.
LAD owes Kimbrel nothing.
While they’d rather keep everything Kosher and say all the right things today on the surface they could care less about Craig Kimbrel .
He either gets it together or he doesn’t;. Plenty of In-House options and no tears will be shed
Id say odds on him not making the playoff roster are probably over 60% to date. and I might be being extremely kind here but the tea leaves won’t present themselves till late Sept. Until then, control the narrative until its time to take him out to pasture at dusk
Can this guy even get a 1/5 next year on the free market? I think not and would be scared of an front office that thought so
Andrew Friedman doesn’t make a lot of big mistakes as LA’s POBO, but trading for Kimbrel this past offseason was a terrible mistake. LA has about 6 weeks left to groom a new closer. The problem is that they are blowing other clubs out so they don’t have a lot of true 1 run or 2 run save opportunities. Once they get into the playoffs, their games will be much closer and if they don’t have an established closer by then, it could be an achillies heel for them. A team like St. Louis or Atlanta will take full advantage of that come October.
What have I been saying? Especially when they could have signed Jansen back for one year (for the same dollars as they owe to Kimbrel, no less), and if they really had no use for Pollock he could have been traded for a bag of peanuts and the roster would still be in a better place. Hoping Treinen comes back strong and he can share closing duties with Phillips. Best case scenario now.
Pollock was underwater Blue ,so we get No peanuts, in fact we need to send capital with AJ to ship him out
I told you this 2~3 years ago, then it all played out in front of your eyes (the trade), and yet you still don’t believe it.
As if Friedman just got drunk or something and made this deal…..No, that was AJ’s market, and this trade was also far less about on field matters than off …….but I digress Blue and will move along to Dorthy
Pollock was coming off not one but two excellent seasons, so no, his contract was not under water. In fact if you look at his three years with the Dodgers they were collectively excellent. All some remember is injuries and downgrade a player for having bad luck instead of looking at the player’s production in between the bad luck. So what you say you told me 2-3 years ago was really quite wrong.
Okay- So Pollock wasn’t underwater and Andrew traded him straight up for Kimbrel (who obv) was ?
That’s what you think happened ? ….Seriously!!!!
I gotta ask now are you related to AJ Pollock?
Couldn’t disagree more DM, –
Kimbrel trade was amazing. for LAD
With Pollock rostered Lux never gets his worthy abs, Trayce probably isn’t here, we have 10 mill tied to him next year on the cap sheet (The biggest get from this trade for LAD really) , we never get to see Amaya/Outman and yea we have AJ Pollock-
Kimbrel most likely doesn’t even make the playoff roster and he sure as hell won’t be depended on for more than a mop up fella if he does sneak in the last spot –
Closer is a very dated word, teams are going with their best arms in Oct in the brightest moments- Julio Urias closed out our last chip mind you Prior and Co are not worried one bit about some sorta “established closer” mantra today
In closing – Kimbrel could have cost LAD this year like you two say, but he didn’t, we are 18 games up today . This trade was ALWAYS more ledger/40 man gymnastics than on – field. I guess failing to recognize that from the onslaught is going to lead us both to the corner where we are today …. But Id be real curious to hear from White Sox fans on the thoughts of them having to pay AJ Pollock 10 mill next year while absorbing a crucial 26 man spot all year. I get Kimbrel sucks, he really does, but 18 up with 5 weeks left till Kimbrels contracts is off the books looks good to me
How is this trade a big mistake? Kimbrel has been more productive than Pollock. If anything I think the mistake would be the Pollock contract, but he was able to ditch that a year early
Because they traded for a closer who can’t close. Some like to complicate this with all sorts of irrelevancies and distractions to make it look like a good trade. When, clearly, it was not.
Blue you gotta gain some depth my man.
This “closer” thing is super silly and dated
Dodgers pen is the best its been in 10 years yet you talk about a closer like its 1997
Haven’t you enjoyed watching Lux get everyday abs this year ? Or you still wanna see that stump AJ in the box? Those aren’t distractions those are realities !
He will absolutely get 1/5 next off-season. I’ll take that bet. Kimberl def has some issues and isn’t that good anymore. But 1/5?? Hands down
Im not so sure, lot better ways to spend a 40
Sure only takes 1 but yea not so sure on that
I don’t think he is worthy. I wouldn’t spend that oin a declining BP arm in his mid 30s if I was a gm. But yes just takes 1. Where they want turn him into a project with a tweak here and there and make him a stud again
They owe him his salary. They should care though since he’s one of their pitchers.
I guess at this point in the season you could say the Kimbrel/Pollock trade is a wash.
The BIG win is next year Iron 😉
If LA keeps using Kimbrel in the closer’s role the trade will be a Lose/Lose because it will likely cause the Dodgers to lose a playoff series. LA has much better options in Kimbrel and need to move on. Signing Jansen to more years wasn’t the answer either.
Jansen signed for ONE year with Atlanta. If you’re interested in what he got paid, compare it to what the Dodgers are paying Kimbrel. Then compare the performance. Take a look at both and get back to me. I’ll wait.
latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2022-03-20/dodger…
Yeah… didn’t really play out how you’re pretending it did Blue. LAD dragged their feet, absolutely, but ATL came in with a one year off with a deadline, and Kenley took it. The dodgers were willing to give 2x the guarantee ATL did. Sounds like Kimbrel was NOT chosen over Kenley. He was the fallback when Kenley signed with ATL……
But hey, facts muddle the waters. I understand
What is actually funny, while the ERAs tell one story, by FIP, Kimbrel has actually been the better pitcher than Kenley this year. It’s just one stat, but interesting none the less
You just confirmed exactly what I said and then told me I’m wrong. Imagine the confusion. And why in the world would the Dodgers have to give Jansen twice what he was paid in Atlanta? How does this make even the slightest amount of sense? Bottom line, it doesn’t.
Sure you could cherry-pick stats but by just about every measurement (WHIP, hits, BB and SOs) Jansen has been better this season. A lot, in some cases.
If you were a MLB manager, would you want to have to rely on either one of those guys to close out a playoff game for you? You are only as good as the last guy holding the ball.
This is a valid point. Having to rely on either of these pitchers to close is a cause for heartburn. That isn’t the question though. The question is, which of the two causes less heartburn? The answer is so clear I wonder how it’s even a debate.
Dodgers have excellent arms in the pen- Why would they want to put 16 mill into an arm like Jansen etc …
The Kimbrel trade was never about his ability or thought he’d be the man in a big spot
Blue you have never cared about payroll…its always been just pay pay pay more ….,. So your going to have a hard time understanding moves that deal with things outside the lines…. The coffers aren’t endless and we have so many young kids to pay later yet you want AJ Pollock and Kenley Jansen to get the bread?
That’s exactly how you turn a 12 year dynasty into a 6 year dynasty —
Kimbrel is good for eating innings. Let em pitch in all the games but the 9 vs SD. Wear the guy out and keep others well rested. I don’t wish injuries on anybody but if he’s gotta hit the IL right as playoffs start, it won’t be the worst thing.
“Closer” role should be committee anyways. Treinen & Phillips should know they’re facing the heart of the order. Everyone else should see the 9th as another inning. It’s all mental.
I guess the alternative is to DFA Kimbrel which is still a real possibility, but LAD can afford to squeeze that last bit of toothpaste out of Kimbrel’s tube in the meantime. I don’t think any sane person can envision him closing in the playoffs. Just feed him a steady diet of garbage time for the remainder of the season and leave him off the playoff roster.
100%
Jacob Junis has been an absolute rock, and I hope he’s fine and the Giants re-sign him for next season.
He’s number 3 in my rotation.
Hope they can resign him and Rodon.
I don’t think Rodon *wants* to stay w the Giants
Roberts can handle the closer situation.