In a piece for the The Athletic, Matt Gelb recaps the frantic lead-up to the Phillies’ signing of right-handed reliever Corey Knebel, which included an unfortunately timed trip to Mexico and a number of insightful quotes from Knebel himself. One particular quote of note is that Knebel and Philadelphia “entertained” a two-year contract before ultimately settling on a one-year, $10M guarantee.
While Knebel is the presumptive closer for his new club at this time, neither he nor president Dave Dombrowski have confirmed as such.
“We think he can close games,” Dombrowski said Dec. 1. “I think that’s why he signed here. We did not promise him that. We just told him that he’d be a backend person for us."
Accordingly, Knebel says he’s using the personal risk of a one-year contract as motivation to regain the form that made him one of the game’s most dominant arms from 2017-2018. As the “$10M” portion of his latest contract indicates, however, Knebel may not need much more motivation to regain elite status at the back of a pen. After all, a newfound reliance on his curveball led to the right-hander spinning 25-plus innings of 2.45 ERA ball with the Dodgers last season.
While health and its corresponding impact on effectiveness is always a question with pitchers who have undergone Tommy John surgery, the Phillies front office was surely pleased by Knebel demonstrating some of the best control he’s had in his career. Further dampening health concerns were Knebel’s strikeout abilities, which were down during the season from his own lofty 2017-2018 heights, but were still solidly above-average and exploded in the playoffs — in five-plus innings the right-hander struck out 11 batters against just one walk.
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