Craig Kimbrel Reportedly Added to Braves' Roster After Bullpen's Collapse vs. D-Backs

The Atlanta Braves are calling up Craig Kimbrel from Triple-A Gwinnett after the bullpen allowed seven runs in the ninth inning en route to an 11-10 home loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The 37-year-old Kimbrel has pitched 15 seasons in the bigs (2010-2024), amassing 440 saves and posting a 2.59 ERA. He's struck out 1,265 batters over 809.2 innings (837 appearances).

He last pitched in the majors for the Baltimore Orioles in 2024, registering a 5.33 ERA over 57 games.

Kimbrel obviously struggled in his last major league stop, to the point where he lost his closer role in late July before being designated for assignment in September, before the team went to the playoffs. Per Baseball-Reference, Kimbrel had an 11.50 ERA over his final 19 appearances with the O's.

The nine-time All-Star signed a minor league deal with Atlanta last March. He's spent the bulk of his time in Triple-A, posting a 2.45 ERA over 15 games while striking out 17 batters in 14.2 innings.

For the season, Atlanta's bullpen has been middle-of-the-road. Its bullpen ERA ranked 16th in the league at 3.90 going into Thursday. Obviously, that figure and rank will get worse, and Atlanta's relief performance certainly rang alarm bells.

Scott Blewett pitched 1.1 innings, allowing five earned runs, three hits and two walks. But then Raisel Iglesias relieved him and allowed three earned runs and four hits in two-thirds of an inning. Iglesias, the team's closer, now has a 6.75 ERA.

So Atlanta turns to Kimbrel in hopes of improving a bullpen that sorely needs reinforcements, especially after Thursday. The hope, obviously, is that Kimbrel can put aside the second half of his 2024 season and return to a much better form that he's shown in the past.

In the meantime, Atlanta is now 2-8 in its last 10 games to drop to 27-34 for fourth in the NL East. It's been a nightmarish year for the Braves, and now it has the potential to get worse with a six-game road trip against two winning teams in the 34-28 San Francisco Giants and 34-29 Milwaukee Brewers.