PHOENIX — Craig Kimbrel will make another playoff appearance, but it won’t be in a pivotal moment of the game.
It’s too dangerous.
In Thursday’s Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Chase Field, Kimbrel let up a walk-off single to D-backs second baseman Ketel Marte. On Friday, he lost Game 4 after blowing a save in the eighth inning.
The first reliever to lose back-to-back postseason games for the Phillies is Kimbrel. Mitch Williams in 1993 and Tug McGraw in 1980 are the only other relievers to have lost multiple games for Philadelphia in a single postseason.
Asked on Saturday how gutsy it would be to use Kimbrel right now in a high-leverage situation, Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said, Pretty gutsy. I think he just needs a little bit of a break, you know? What does a break mean at this time of year?
Phillies’ Rob Thomson says Craig Kimbrel ‘needs a little bit of a break’ from high-leverage spots
After Kimbrel blew leads in Games 3 and 4, Thomson says he will look to put him in lower-leverage situations./cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/5B3CBPBLGZDKXCZ7TLAU5AXS4Q.jpg)
PHOENIX — After throwing 45 pitches over the last two nights, it’s almost a lock that Craig Kimbrel won’t leave the bullpen here Saturday night.
But how gutsy would it be for the Phillies to use Kimbrel in a high-leverage situation after he blew leads in Games 3 and 4?
Pretty gutsy, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. I think he just needs a little bit of a break.”
Kimbrel allowed Ketel Marte’s walk-off single in the ninth inning of Game 3, a 2-1 victory for the Diamondbacks. In Game 4, the veteran closer allowed three runs in the decisive eighth inning, including a game-tying two-run pinch-hit homer by Alek Thomas.
The problem: Command. Kimbrel hasn’t landed his curveball for strikes, forcing him to try to get back into counts with his fastball.
According to Thomson, the Phillies would prefer to use Kimbrel in a lower-leverage scenario before putting their faith in him with another late lead. But what does that even look like in the heat of the postseason?
Sixth inning, seventh inning,” Thomson said. “His stuff is good. He’s just got to power the ball through the zone.
