Phillies Rival Braves Call Up Craig Kimbrel to Fix Their Woeful Bullpen Issues

The Philadelphia Phillies tried out an aging future Hall of Famer back in 2023 and it didn't really work out. Two years later and their rivals are doing the same.

Long time MLB closer Craig Kimbrel is back where it all began for him as the Atlanta Braves are calling him up for his 16th season in the Majors, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Kimbrel is almost assuredly going to be in the Hall of Fame, despite a poor end to his career at this point. He has a 2.59 ERA over 809.2 innings. He's a nine-time All-Star and is fifth all-time in saves with 440.

He hasn't really looked the same for a while. Since the start of 2019, he has a 3.90 ERA. That is carried heavily by the first half of 2021 when he gave up just two earned runs in 36.2 innings.

The 37-year-old spent just one year in a Phillies uniform back in that 2023 campaign. He was an All-Star that year, but he had a rough postseason and the two sides went their separate ways after that.

Last season, he was with the Baltimore Orioles. Things went in-and-out of being solid, but he had a 11.50 ERA over 18 innings and was released towards the end of September.

It was unclear whether or not he would even end up pitching in the Majors ever again. He had a storied career and was clearly continuously taking steps back, but Atlanta signed him to a minor league deal back in March and are now giving him a shot to fix their ailing bullpen.

Kimbrel obviously has a leg up in experience over minor league batters, but he has looked solid enough to earn the chance. He has a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings with a 0.944 WHIP and 11.5 K/9.

He's still walking batters at an alarming rate, but he has been hard to hit.

The Braves bullpen gave up a six-run lead on Thursday, which signaled the move to get Kimbrel from the minors.

Atlanta needs another impact right-handed reliever with players like Raisel Iglesias and Rafael Montero struggling.

Philadelphia could have potentially used Kimbrel themselves if he ends up working out. Their bullpen ranks No. 23 in the league with a 4.55 staff ERA in the last 30 days.

Instead, they will likely need to search on the trade market for some options as their staff continues to look like an issue.