TAMPA – At the start of each spring, manager Brian Snitker always says it: There might be someone who helps the Braves that is not even in camp at the time.
So on Wednesday, a day after the Braves signed right-hander Craig Kimbrel to a minor-league deal – bringing him back to where he debuted all those years ago – Snitker said this:
“Hopefully he can be one of those guys, like we talked about earlier, like three weeks go, we said, ‘Somebody might have a big influence on our team that’s not even in camp yet,’” Snitker said. “It’d be great if he’s that guy.”
Snitker and the Braves were at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday for a night game versus the Yankees. Meanwhile, Kimbrel will get started building up.
Kimbrel is in minor-league camp, even if he’ll be situated in the major-league clubhouse. At this point in the spring, Kimbrel wouldn’t have enough time to make the Opening Day roster. But it would be shocking if he’s not in Atlanta at some point.
If Kimbrel is in the majors, he’ll earn $2 million – well, a prorated amount of that for however long he’s on the major-league roster.
“It’ll be good to see him,” said Snitker, who was the third-base coach early in Kimbrel’s career. “Hopefully he can replicate what he did the first half of last year. It’d be awesome if he could come in and do that. But we just have to get him to camp, and I’m sure once he gets going, we’ll be gone. But no, it’s gonna be neat. It’ll be good to see him. I love Craig.”
Kimbrel ended last season with a 5.33 ERA over 52 1/3 innings. But you have to split that out to get some additional context.
Kimbrel had a 2.72 ERA over 36 1/3 innings through July 20. Snitker said he talked to some of the folks in Baltimore, where Kimbrel played, and they recalled thinking he’d make the All-Star team.
The Braves could potentially add that guy – the first-half Kimbrel – to the bullpen at some point.
“Oh my God, I think that’d be awesome,” Snitker said. “Any time you can add a bullet like that to your bullpen, a guy with that experience and obviously back-end, closer-type stuff, if he can pitch the seventh inning on, that would be awesome to get a guy like that.”
Kimbrel debuted for the Braves in 2010 and became one of MLB’s best closers. He was an All-Star as recently as 2023 with the Phillies.
Kimbrel, who turns 37 in May, could be a nice add to a bullpen with some uncertainty. Raisel Iglesias and Pierce Johnson are the biggest names, with Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer following them in that category. There’s opportunity in the bullpen for Atlanta.
In recent days, the Braves have added Kimbrel and catcher James McCann. Like Kimbrel, McCann will be in the big-league clubhouse but will be in minor-league camp because he didn’t have a spring training before the Braves signed him to a minors deal.
With camp winding down, the Braves are beginning to make their final roster decisions.
“You never know: I may get into the clubhouse (Thursday) and somebody’s popped up that’s not even here right now,” Snitker said. “But we’re narrowing things down and kind of getting a better idea of what we want to do.”
Profar could return Thursday
Jurickson Profar (left wrist bone bruise) played in a minor-league game on Wednesday, Snitker said. If everything went well, he’ll be in Thursday’s lineup in North Port for the Grapefruit League game.
Profar previously said he felt confident he’d be ready for Opening Day. Barring an unforeseen setback or re-aggravation of the injury, he seems on track to play against his former team on March 27.
Hello, Max
There was a familiar face hanging out behind the cage during Braves batting practice on the field: Max Fried.
Fried said hello to Snitker, head athletic trainer George Poulis, former teammate Darren O’Day – who now works some radio broadcasts – and many other former teammates and staffers. Fried seemed to enjoy catching up with all of them.
In December, Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees. In terms of total value, it’s the largest deal ever for a left-handed pitcher and the fourth largest for any pitcher.
Rule 5 guys returned
The Braves in December selected two players in the major-league phase of the Rule 5 Draft: right-hander Anderson Pilar and infielder Christian Cairo.
Players selected in the Rule 5 Draft must be put on the 26-man roster or offered back to their original club.
Neither Pilar nor Cairo were going to make the Braves. Thus, they returned Pilar to the Marlins and Cairo to the Guardians.
Teams who select a player in the Rule 5 Draft must pay $100,000 to the original club. If the player is offered back eventually, the team that selected him receives $50,000.
Thus, the Braves spent $100,000 total to evaluate both players during spring training.
Pilar seemed somewhat promising until he was charged with seven earned runs while only recording three outs against the Phillies’ “A” lineup in Clearwater. Before that, he’d mainly faced minor-league bats at the end of Grapefruit League games.
Cairo went 5-for-28 at the plate with the Braves this spring. Nick Allen will be the team’s utility infielder. He’s been a step ahead of Cairo in the competition for that job all spring.
Schwellenbach shuts down Yankees
Spencer Schwellenbach started Wednesday’s game and threw six scoreless innings against a Yankees lineup that included Aaron Judge.
Schwellenbach gave up two hits over his outing. He struck out 10 and walked only one. He needed only 78 pitches to complete the six frames, and 57 were strikes.
“It feels really good, just being able to put everything together, all my off-speed stuff and being able to locate when I need to,” Schwellenbach said. “It feels really good.”
Bullpen game Thursday
The Braves will start Iglesias on Thursday against the Phillies at CoolToday Park. It’ll be a bullpen game for Atlanta.
Hector Neris, a nonroster invitee with a good shot to make the team, will also pitch in the game.
Reliever released
The Braves released left-hander Jake Diekman, who was a nonroster invitee in camp before they reassigned him to minor-league camp.
He’d allowed four earned runs over 7 1/3 innings in spring games for Atlanta.
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