Craig Kimbrel has largely been nails for the Phillies this season, but Tuesday was not his day.
At first, it seemed like it literally wouldn’t be his day — as in, he wouldn’t be involved at all. Gregory Soto came out for the save in the ninth inning with the Phillies up by one, prompting questions about Kimbrel’s availability (and health) after not throwing on Monday.
But then, when Soto blew it, the game headed to extras and Brandon Marsh gave the Phillies a two-run lead with a pinch-hit homer, Kimbrel was called on to close out a series win in Miami — and he suffered the same fate as Soto.
Kimbrel allowed a groundout, single, double and a sacrifice fly to knot the game back up at seven apiece, stranding the walk-off run at second base.
But the most interesting part of Kimbrel’s night came in between his curious ninth-inning non-usage and his 10th-inning struggles: He opened the 10th by intentionally balking zombie runner Jazz Chisholm Jr. to third.
With the run unimportant due to the two-run lead, and no force play anyway, it’s a move pitchers will sometimes utilize to erase any possibility of runners relaying signs from second to the hitter.
If that was the reasoning, it turns out it might’ve had some legs.
It also might partially explain why Kimbrel didn’t pitch in the ninth. Perhaps the team noticed Kimbrel had been tipping his pitches in previous outings, the Phillies wanted him to make the mechanical adjustments before throwing him into live action and the game’s extension left them no other choice but to use him. Or, perhaps the Phillies simply wanted the lefty Soto to face Luis Arráez to lead off the ninth — and that worked, but Jorge Soler ultimately punished the decision with his game-tying homer.
There are plenty of reasons the Phillies lost that game, and Kimbrel’s pitch-tipping might not even be one of them. But as Thomson said, it’s certainly worth a look, if there’s even the slimmest of chances that failing to address it could expose the Phillies’ most reliable reliever.
Must-read (or watch) Phillies content
- The latest session of Phillies Therapy broke down the Phillies’ trade deadline in detail.
- The Phillies designated Andrew Vasquez for assignment Wednesday.
- Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo wrote about Nick Castellanos, who was extremely candid and honest when assessing his offensive struggles following Tuesday’s comeback.
- Phillies Nation‘s Tim Kelly wrote about Dave Dombrowski’s comments on Johan Rojas, about whom the Phillies organization is high — which explains some of their trade deadline inactivity.
- The Athletic‘s Matt Gelb wrote about the message sent by Dave Dombrowski’s measured approach to the deadline.
- MLB.com‘s Todd Zolecki surveyed what some Phillies thought about the team’s deadline.
- Michael Lorenzen has ties, dating back years, with a lot of his new teammates. Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about them.
Former Phillie Nation
- Once a top prospect in the Phillies’ organization, Ben Lively has actually been decent this year for Phillies potential Wild Card competitor Cincinnati Reds — that is, until Tuesday, when he helped out his old club, not his current one, with a four-inning, 13 (!)-run shellacking. He was placed on the injured list the next day.
- Would you welcome a Jimmy Cigs return?
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