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The Baltimore Orioles were the team that signed Craig Kimbrel this past offseason. With All-Star closer Felix Bautista currently on the mend due to Tommy John surgery, the Orioles needed someone who could shut the door in the ninth. Kimbrel blends experience and upside all in one, as he has the stuff to blow hitters away, but has run into some trouble putting together consistency.
In recent games, Kimbrel has not been at his best, that much is clear. Over his last 10 games, the 36-year-old closer has put up a ghastly ERA of 10.24; in 9.2 innings during that span, he has allowed 11 hits, 12 walks, and four home runs — not exactly numbers any manager would want from a late-game reliever, let alone for a manager of a team that's fighting for AL East superiority in the Orioles.
Craig Kimbrel hasn't closed for the team since blowing a save against the New York Yankees on July 14, which marked the beginning of his downward spiral that seems to have no end in sight. Kimbrel, however, is not taking this demotion without a fight, with Brandon Hyde giving a promising prognosis of the veteran after he tweaked his mechanics in an attempt to get his pitching back on track.
“It sounds like it really went well. With where we are in our bullpen here, we’re gonna need guys to step up, and we need him to as well,” Hyde said, per Tyler Kepner of The Athletic.
Over the past few seasons, Craig Kimbrel has struggled with maintaining consistency in his play from start to finish. Last year, Kimbrel melted down in the NLCS, playing a huge part in the Philadelphia Phillies' inability to make it back to the World Series, and then in 2021, he struggled to end the year following a trade to the Chicago White Sox.
Kimbrel has lost steam in the latter parts of the season in the past, so this looks like deja vu for the Orioles reliever. But the hope is that all the tinkering he has done will be enough to make him a useful piece for Brandon Hyde's team as they look to fend off the Yankees for the division crown.
A former Phillies reliever steps up for the Orioles
It has been a tale of two former Phillies relievers for the Orioles over the past month. While Craig Kimbrel has faltered and been losing favor in the eyes of manager Brandon Hyde, Seranthony Dominguez, the reliever the team acquired prior to the trade deadline, has stepped up as a late-game weapon for an Orioles bullpen that has no clear-cut leader.
Dominguez has put up a clean ERA of 2.53 in 10.2 innings pitched, and his strikeout rate and average fastball velocity have improved since arriving with the Orioles. But as helpful as Dominguez has been after being cast aside by the Phillies, he did not do too well on Monday, allowing a walk-off home run to New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez.
But for Brandon Hyde, he has been well-pleased with what Dominguez has given the team since coming aboard.
“I know that he was going to have maybe a little bit more opportunity here to pitch in some high-leverage games than he was in Philly. We tried him out right away and he’s throwing the ball with a lot of confidence right now,” Hyde said.
