Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Craig Kimbrel: Super-Valuable

Rookie closer Craig Kimbrel was one pitch away from getting a save in Florida Monday, when a little chopper ate up the elderly Chipper Jones at third. He got ahead of Omar Vizquel, a former Brave teammate, and had 2 strikes on him before Vizquel put one in the stands, ending the game. Kimbrel has actually given home runs in each of his last 2 appearances and seems to be struggling. He may be out of gas, as he has appeared in 77 games this season. He has been downright nasty all year, with 45 saves, an ERA of 2.03, WHIP of .996, and 124 strikeouts (this doesn't mention what he did last year, with a .44 ERA in 21 appearances). His WAR is 3.0, he has left 80% of runners on base, .173 BAA, walks less than 10% of batters, all this with throwing his fastball 70% of the time. The best part is, of course, that he is making $421,000. This gives him an amazing WASP of 120. Anytime you can bring up a prospect or a young player and contribute, its beautiful. If the Braves complete the collapse, they can't blame it on what they got from Kimbrel this year.

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