The Atlanta Braves’ handling of Craig Kimbrel was completely baffling.
The Braves in March signed Kimbrel to a minor-league deal. He pitched in three games for Double-A Columbus and was nearly flawless with no hits and only one walk allowed over 3.1 innings. Then he moved up to Triple-A Gwinnett and went 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA over 14.2 innings.
On Thursday, the Braves blew a 10-4 lead in the 9th inning and allowed seven runs to fall 11-10 to the Diamondbacks. Following that game, we learned the team was calling up Kimbrel from the minors. They designated Scott Blewett for assignment after he allowed three home runs to Arizona in the 9th.
Then the Braves had Kimbrel pitch in their 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings on Friday night. He pitched a scoreless 7th, allowing one hit and a walk while striking out one. He threw just 6 strikes in 14 pitches and was aided by a caught stealing and pickoff.
Then a day later, the Braves announced that they were designating Kimbrel for assignment and recalling Austin Cox, a lefthanded pitcher.
Braves fans were baffled by the handling of Kimbrel and how he had been let go after just one appearance.
Craig Kimbrel DFAd. This team is a joke!
— Nate Miller (@ArmchairNate) June 7, 2025
Fun while it last legend 🔥#Braves pic.twitter.com/ppwUXJ76CH
I’ll say this, if Kimbrel isn’t retiring and we just paid him $2M for one outing AND got rid of Blewett I’m going to be very annoyed.
— Beaneater Buzz (@BeaneaterB) June 7, 2025
What did the Braves bring up Kimbrel for? Just because they needed an extra bullpen arm for one game? Or maybe they felt they would give him a shot and didn’t like how he looked? He was only throwing around 92 mph on his fastball, but what they saw probably wasn’t much different from what he was doing in the minor leagues.
It will be interesting to see whether Kimbrel accepts his assignment to the minors or chooses to become a free agent instead.
