O's DFA Kimbrel as ex-closer can't fix struggles

BALTIMORE — Craig Kimbrel‘s time with the Orioles is over.

The Orioles designated their former closer for assignment Wednesday following the latest in a series of rough outings.

Kimbrel gave up six runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning of relief in Baltimore’s 10-0 home loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Kimbrel has a 13.94 ERA in his last 11 appearances over the past month.

A nine-time All-Star, Kimbrel has pitched in 837 games and amassed a whopping 440 saves. But this season, his first with Baltimore, the right-hander has a 5.33 ERA with six blown saves.

The last of his 23 saves with the Orioles came on July 7. Not long after that, following several poor performances, Kimbrel desperately tried to regain the form that enabled him to pitch in the back end of the bullpen since breaking into the big leagues in 2010 with Atlanta.

It never happened.

“Tough day,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We have so much respect for Craig and his career. It’s never easy to say goodbye to someone who’s done a lot.”

The Orioles have lost nine of 12 games to fall 4.5 games back of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. In a corresponding roster move, they recalled right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk.

Orioles general manager Mike Elias signed Kimbrel to a $13 million contract in December to fill the void left by Felix Bautista, who had 48 saves last year before going on the disabled list with an elbow injury. Bautista underwent Tommy John surgery, which kept him sidelined for the entire 2024 season.

Kimbrel’s 23 saves before the All-Star Game helped the defending AL East champions hit the break atop the division.

“Heck of a first half for us. Helped us win a ton of games,” Hyde said.

Kimbrel’s decline began with a blown save on July 14 against the Yankees. He got the win in that game despite allowing three runs in the ninth inning.

“The game here against New York, that was a struggle, and he never got rolling after that,” Hyde said.

Kimbrel blew a save on July 25 in Miami and took a loss the following day against San Diego. At that point, Hyde began using Kimbrel in no-pressure situations in the hope that the 36-year-old would regain the form that landed him in fifth place on the career saves list.

“I tried to give him low-leverage spots, and it seemed like when there were runners on base he had a tough time not allowing that run to score,” Hyde said.

Hyde knew of Kimbrel’s sensational past, but there were only a few glimpses of that pitcher recently.

“He’s a Hall of Famer to me,” Hyde said. “Craig has done some amazing things in his career. To be able to pitch in the innings he’s pitched, for that long with that type of pressure, there are only a handful of guys who have been able to do that.”

Seranthony Dominguez, acquired in a July trade with the Phillies, has taken over the closer’s role for Baltimore.

“When we got him in the trade, it wasn’t like the next day we were saying Seranthony is going to be the closer now,” Hyde said. “It was more of need at that point because Craig was struggling a little bit.”