When José Alvarado went on the IL earlier this month the Phillies lost a dominant bullpen arm. In his absence the club is relying on pitchers like Craig Kimbrel and Seranthony Domínguez to step up and finish games.
Both pitchers have been pitching well since Alvarado hit the shelf, but Kimbrel has been showing flashes of pure dominance over his last four appearances. Since giving up the walk off grand slam to Max Muncy to lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kimbrel has not allowed a run.
Since May 9th Kimbrel has pitched four scoreless innings and has allowed just one hit. The more staggering figure is the number of batters that he has struck out over that span. In those four innings, Kimbrel has sat down ten batters on strikes.
Kimbrel’s velocity has been up on his fastball. To begin the year the pitch sat around 94-95MPH. Lately, Kimbrel has been hitting 96-97MPH with his heater. Kimbrel has developed a better feel for his curveball as well. The Phillies hoped that Kimbrel would have a resurgent season after struggling in Los Angeles in 2022.
Kimbrel had this to say regarding his new feel for the curveball:
“When I throw it for strikes, it opens up the zones for me and lets me go where I want to, it’s just staying in line, staying in direction. It’s all rhythm…”
via Alex Coffey Philadelphia Inquirer
On paper, Kimbrel’s 2023 stats are not impressive, or even good when you look at ERA or WHIP. However, his K/9 rate is up to 15.2 at this point in the season. The last time his strikeout rate was that high was in 2021— the last time Kimbrel was an All-Star.
Kimbrel is far from an All-Star in 2023, but there are signs he is turning his season around after a tough start to his Phillies’ tenure. The Phillies need him to be a reliable back end of the bullpen reliever especially while Alvarado remains sidelined. As of today, Kimbrel sits at 398 career saves. He will look to become just the eighth closer in MLB history to record 400 saves in their career.
