Is Kimbrel Shook?

[dgalehouse]

On no rest either after throwing 2 shaky innings

 

98 mph gas after 38 pitches and two innings the night before.

[Bellhorn04]

Kimbrel had some issues, but he's not a chocker.

[Maxbialystock]

I found last night to be a game changer in terms of my view of Kimbrel and I completely buy the notion that he was tipping his pitches. He only has 2 pitches, so knowing which one is coming would be huge because it's the difference between a blazing fast ball and a big breaking knuckle curve that gives him the edge.

 

I still would be reluctant to give him a long-term contract, however.

[mvp 78]

Kimbrel had some issues, but he's not a chocker.

 

But is he clutch?

[jacksonianmarch]

Max, I absolutely believe he was tipping pitches. Correa fouled off a sick slider off the dish last night that he had no business fouling off unless he knew it was coming. Kimbrel isn’t used to being hit. When he is, he gets erratic. My guess is Cora will work with the PC to fix it

[oldtimer]

Max, I absolutely believe he was tipping pitches. Correa fouled off a sick slider off the dish last night that he had no business fouling off unless he knew it was coming. Kimbrel isn’t used to being hit. When he is, he gets erratic. My guess is Cora will work with the PC to fix it

 

I saw Kiimbrel's main problem as lack of command of either of his pitches. Walks and hit batsmen have led to his troubles. When he was forced to come over the plate with a meatball, he was hit. Maybe it was lack of regular work that led to his lack of command,maybe it got into his head but in truth, he was wild and did struggle. His four seam fastball is a tough pitch to hit but he has to get it over to enduce a swing. His knuckle curve was missing in action of last. When he gets that pitch over, it is almost unhittable. If he does develop a slider that he can control then he would be even more of a force.

 

Maybe Cora haas gained a better idea of what works for Kimbrel.

[Maxbialystock]

I saw Kiimbrel's main problem as lack of command of either of his pitches. Walks and hit batsmen have led to his troubles. When he was forced to come over the plate with a meatball, he was hit. Maybe it was lack of regular work that led to his lack of command,maybe it got into his head but in truth, he was wild and did struggle. His four seam fastball is a tough pitch to hit but he has to get it over to enduce a swing. His knuckle curve was missing in action of last. When he gets that pitch over, it is almost unhittable. If he does develop a slider that he can control then he would be even more of a force.

 

Maybe Cora haas gained a better idea of what works for Kimbrel.

 

I disagree but think your view is entirely plausible. Last night I was simply stunned at how much better he was. vs. his first four saves.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

I found last night to be a game changer in terms of my view of Kimbrel and I completely buy the notion that he was tipping his pitches. He only has 2 pitches, so knowing which one is coming would be huge because it's the difference between a blazing fast ball and a big breaking knuckle curve that gives him the edge.

 

I still would be reluctant to give him a long-term contract, however.

 

I'm with you, last night was a huge relief to see him throw strikes. I don't think tipping pitches was the problem, it was his control.

[jung]

I found last night to be a game changer in terms of my view of Kimbrel and I completely buy the notion that he was tipping his pitches. He only has 2 pitches, so knowing which one is coming would be huge because it's the difference between a blazing fast ball and a big breaking knuckle curve that gives him the edge.

 

I still would be reluctant to give him a long-term contract, however.

 

You are not tipping pitches when you can't get one of your two pitches over and you are over-throwing the other one to compensate. No MLB hitter has to look for a "tip" in those circumstances. The AB of the year that typifies Kembrel's problem in that regard was the Stanton AB in NY late in the year. He let go of one of his fire breathing FB's when everybody in the building knew that was what he was going to throw because it was the only pitch he could get over the plate and Stanton sent it to Mars. You just cannot throw it past good MLB hitters if they definitively know you are throwing the FB.

 

But to me the bigger issue for a team looking to spend big money on Kimbrel is the narrow range within which he performs:

- has to be a Close situation

- has to be given a clean inning

- has to be a Close of 4 outs or less

 

Now we can add to that:

- has to be working regularly or does not struggle but completely falls apart

 

Enough already! That does not sound like $13m worth of Closer to me when we have guys like Mookie and X headed into arbitration years and pitchers like Eo that we probably really want to try to sign to a longer term deal.

 

So I would be very surprised if the Sox bring Kimbrel back because to my mind he has become a managerial nightmare that simply performs in a range that is just too narrow.

[Kimmi]

But is he clutch?

 

Of course he is. He will walk the bases loaded and cut a 3 run lead down to 2, but when he really needs to make the pitch, he's there!

[dgalehouse]

Up until last night , Kimbrel has been shaky , to say the least. However , he now has four saves and zero blown saves in the post season to date. And that , after all , is the whole objective.

[Kimmi]

Up until last night , Kimbrel has been shaky , to say the least. However , he now has four saves and zero blown saves in the post season to date. And that , after all , is the whole objective.

 

Bottom line, Kimbrel has gotten the job done.

 

He's probably aged us a few years along the way, but he's gotten the job done.

[Jasonbay44]

He's gotten the job done, but man, he's lived about as close to the edge as you possibly can. I thought in three different games, one of those fly balls was leaving the yard.

[Kimmi]

He's gotten the job done, but man, he's lived about as close to the edge as you possibly can. I thought in three different games, one of those fly balls was leaving the yard.

 

I've said it many times, but I'll say it again. He's no Koji. The thing that I liked best about Koji is that he didn't mess around, and he didn't walk batters. There was rarely any drama when Koji came in.

 

We can all do without the 9th inning drama, for sure.

[Bellhorn04]

I've said it many times, but I'll say it again. He's no Koji. The thing that I liked best about Koji is that he didn't mess around, and he didn't walk batters. There was rarely any drama when Koji came in.

 

We can all do without the 9th inning drama, for sure.

 

In 2013 Koji probably had the best run of any closer in history, or maybe Rivera had a similar stretch.

 

When we say we don't want any drama from our closer, we're basically saying we don't want any baserunners. We don't even want any balls put in play, actually. An immaculate inning would be nice.

[Kimmi]

In 2013 Koji probably had the best run of any closer in history, or maybe Rivera had a similar stretch.

 

When we say we don't want any drama from our closer, we're basically saying we don't want any baserunners. We don't even want any balls put in play, actually. An immaculate inning would be nice.

 

LOL I would be down with an immaculate inning.

 

A 1-2-3 inning, of course, is the preferred outing. But I can usually stay fairly calm as long as the tying run does not come to the plate, where one swing can blow the save. In a 1 run game, the tying run automatically comes to the plate, so those are pretty much always nerve wracking no matter what. With a 3 run lead, I can deal with a base runner.

 

The bases loaded crap, where the 1/2 inning takes 20 minutes (or more), is unbearable.

[S5Dewey]

The situation with Kimbrel may not be as dire as we thought and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

 

I've heard from several different sources that a friend of Cora's contacted him after Wednesday's game and told him that K was definitely tipping his pitches. This guy caught it on TV! When he was in the 'set' position his hands were higher when throwing the curve than when throwing the fast ball (or the opposite - I forget).

 

Once he realized it he worked on it a bit on Thursday, and Voila! The Kimbrel of old pitched on Thursday night.

 

Has anyone else heard this?

[Bellhorn04]

Let's take a look at some of those Koji numbers from 2013. They really are beyond incredible. I think it's the WHIP numbers that are the most mind-boggling.

 

July .391

Aug .364

Sept .286 !!!

ALDS .333

ALCS .667 not at his best! LOL

WS .429

[Bellhorn04]

The situation with Kimbrel may not be as dire as we thought and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

 

I've heard from several different sources that a friend of Cora's contacted him after Wednesday's game and told him that K was definitely tipping his pitches. This guy caught it on TV! When he was in the 'set' position his hands were higher when throwing the curve than when throwing the fast ball (or the opposite - I forget).

 

Once he realized it he worked on it a bit on Thursday, and Voila! The Kimbrel of old pitched on Thursday night.

 

Has anyone else heard this?

 

Yes. We're all over it here.

 

An interesting detail is that our old buddy Eric Gagne sent Cora a text about it. They were both on the 2007 team.

 

To which Slasher had one of the lines of the year: 'that trade for Gagne finally paid off'.

[S5Dewey]

Yes. We're all over it here.

 

An interesting detail is that our old buddy Eric Gagne sent Cora a text about it. They were both on the 2007 team.

 

To which Slasher had one of the lines of the year: 'that trade for Gagne finally paid off'.

 

Oops. I was gone all day yesterday (as I'm going to be today). I guess that'll teach me to read the entire thread before I post! LOL

 

Thanks.