Dodgers Make Huge Change To Pitching Staff

The Los Angeles Dodgers have seen enough. A 5.40 ERA in his last 7 appearances; giving up runs in 3 of his previous 4 outings; only one save all month. All of that has added up to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts finally pulling Craig Kimbrel out of the closer's role.

#Dodgers Dave Roberts confirmed the obvious /inevitable — Craig Kimbrel won’t be closing games any more. Will look for other roles to use him in for rest of regular season. Wouldn’t speak to postseason
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 23, 2022

It didn't take long for Roberts to find one of those "other roles" for Kimbrel. The reliever got his first taste of non-closing life in LA Friday night, when he was used in the 6th inning of an 11-0 blowout loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The last straw came on Thursday night, in a 1-1 game, when Kimbrel surrendered the go-ahead home run in the top of the 9th (though the Dodgers would come back in the bottom of the 9th).

Christian Walker hits a HOME RUN off of Craig Kimbrel to give the Diamondbacks the lead!! pic.twitter.com/2BXVMpMyhT
— Brian Y (@byysports) September 23, 2022

After that game, Robert said “I think the stuff is starting to slide a little bit. … I’ve got to continue to look at this. We’ve got to have our best guys at the backend.”