The Orioles have finally pulled the plug on right-hander Craig Kimbrel, designating their former closer for assignment on Wednesday afternoon.
The 36-year-old allowed a career-high six earned runs in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 10-0 loss to San Francisco, which was the first time Kimbrel had pitched since Sept. 9. Signed to a one-year, $13 million contract over the winter to replace the injured Felix Bautista (Tommy John surgery) for the 2024 season, Kimbrel had been nothing short of disastrous on the mound since the All-Star break with a 10.59 ERA, 15 walks, and four home runs allowed over his last 17 innings.
The nine-time All-Star selection’s last save came on July 7, a time when many were clamoring for him to be selected to the Midsummer Classic. The Orioles had been holding out hope that Kimbrel — who converted 23 of 29 saves — would be able to regain his form as he did after a rough patch in late April and early May when he went on to pitch to a 0.43 ERA over 22 appearances from May 10 through July 7. However, the situation was only growing worse as Kimbrel proved ineffective in even low-leverage spots such as Tuesday’s blowout loss when manager Brandon Hyde had to replace him with right-hander Matt Bowman to record the final out of the ninth.
“I had a tough time trying to find a spot for him on the road trip,” Hyde said after Tuesday’s loss. “He didn’t pitch for a week. I think as the inning got along, he got tired. I didn’t want to use anybody else. I was hoping he could just get out of the inning, and unfortunately there was some fatigue there at the end.”
Kimbrel is fifth on the all-time saves list with 440 over 15 major league seasons spent with eight different teams.
Acquired from Philadelphia at the trade deadline, right-hander Seranthony Dominguez took over as Orioles closer in mid-August and has converted each of his nine chances for Baltimore.
With it becoming clear that Kimbrel wasn’t going to turn around his performance in time to be a viable candidate for the postseason bullpen, the Orioles elected to part ways now and recall right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk. Baker has pitched to a 4.71 ERA in 17 appearances for the Orioles this season.
Left-hander Danny Coulombe (left elbow surgery) will pitch in another game with Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday before the Orioles decide whether to activate him from the injured list or give him more rehab work. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since having bone chips removed from his elbow in June.
