The Philadelphia Phillies have had the New York Mets hot on their heels in the competitive National League East the past few seasons. New York has had a big January reshaping their roster, but after their latest attempt to keep pace with the Phillies on the pitching front, Philadelphia fans can only laugh at what their “prized” acquisition turned out to be. On Saturday, the Mets signed former Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training with the club, as per MLB insider Jon Heyman.
Philadelphia fans are more than familiar with what Kimbrel can bring after the agony he brought during his time with the ballclub. After all, the right-handed reliever was supposedly one of their big free agent acquisitions during the 2022-23 offseason as the Phillies were looking to solidify the back end of the bullpen ahead of another World Series run.
Mets sign former Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel to minor-league deal, bringing up horrible memories of 2023
Sure, Kimbrel may have performed admirably for Philadelphia during the 2023 regular season when he posted an 8-6 record with a 3.26 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, with a whopping 94 strikeouts in just 69 innings pitched over 71 relief appearances. However, Phillies fans will forever remember the 16-year MLB veteran for his playoff debacle that ensued that year in October.
After the Phillies went up 2-0 in the 2023 NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kimbrel practically single-handedly allowed the Diamondbacks to get back into the series by blowing two consecutive games.
First, in Game 3, he yielded the game-winning single to Ketel Marte after loading the bases. He hastily followed that up in Game 4 by giving up the game-tying home run to Alek Thomas and then putting on the winning run that eventually scored for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona ultimately completed the series comeback and eliminated the Phillies to prevent them from returning to the World Series. In doing so, Kimbrel forever became the franchise scapegoat while traumatizing Philadelphia fans and ripping away their World Series dreams.
The Mets will be hoping that Kimbrel can recapture some of his previous dominant form that has seen him register a career 2.58 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with a 38.8 percent strikeout rate. Especially after witnessing the brief sample size from last season in which he compiled a 2.25 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 12 total innings over 14 appearances split between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros.
However, Kimbrel is also just one year removed from one of his worst seasons in the league in 2024 where he amassed a dismal 5.33 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, giving up 35 runs and 31 walks in just 52 1/3 innings of work after signing with with the Baltimore Orioles that ended with a DFA.
With Kimbrel entering his age-38 season in 2026 and hoping for one last hurrah, the Phillies can only hold their breath and “wish him all the best” with the Mets. Both he and New York will need all the luck he can get to pitch again in the suddenly daunting NL East.