MLB Breaking News: Craig Kimbrel DFA'd After Just One Appearance
The Atlanta Braves' bullpen is a mess. They just lost on Saturday for the third straight game in the 9th inning. Presumptive closer Raisel Iglesias has a 6.75 ERA, and has blown four out of 12 save opportunities. They seemingly tried to help address the problem by calling up fading former nine-time All-Star Craig Kimbrel a couple of days ago from his minor league contract.
But after just one inning on Friday night, they've decided to designate Kimbrel for assignment. The 37-year-old came on in the 7th inning of a tie game, in a high-leverage situation, and got out of the frame with no damage, though he only threw six of his 14 pitches for strikes, walked one and allowed one hit, but gave up no runs.
Braves have DFA'd Craig Kimbrel pic.twitter.com/QaZjPNGAgZ
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 7, 2025
The #Braves are acting strange & out of character. They pitched Craig Kimbrel once — in San Francisco — then cut him immediately afterward. No home game. No standing ovation at Truist Park. Just gone. That’s a truly bizarre way to treat a franchise icon and future Hall of Famer.
— Chris Carroll (@ChrisCarrollDC) June 7, 2025
The Craig Kimbrel decision is nothing short of embarrassing. Letting him rot on the minors, calling him up, and then cutting him after one scoreless frame in a high leverage situation.
— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) June 7, 2025
I'm not going to act like he's a savior, but the rest of this bullpen is ass. Give me a break
Kimbrel is a Braves legend, after racking up 186 of his 440 career saves at the start of his career with Atlanta, registering over 40 saves for four straight seasons, with an ERA in the 1.00s, while garnering top 10 Cy Young votes in each of those four years.
In 15 seasons, Kimbrel has a career 2.59 ERA with an astounding 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings. He is 5th all-time with 440 saves.
Meanwhile, the Braves' bullpen continues to implode, day after day after day, leading up to Saturday's walk-off loss on a two-run homer...
The Braves were winning 10-4 in the 9th inning and lost 11-10.
— Baseball (@mlbelites_) June 7, 2025
The Braves lost on a walk off wild pitch in the 10th inning yesterday.
The Braves lost 3-2 on a walk off home run when they needed one out to win. pic.twitter.com/xoXT68YmBO
