Kimbrel on improved results: "It’s just throwing strikes and not making bad pitches"

The May 8 game in D.C. seems so long ago. Worlds away for the closer with the fifth-most saves in baseball history.

Craig Kimbrel didn’t make it out of the ninth inning again for the fourth time in five tries. He allowed two runs with a hit and a pair of walks, and his ERA swelled to 4.73.

Manager Brandon Hyde spoke with him about a reset, with his next three appearances coming in non-save situations but remaining high leverage due to the club’s propensity for playing close games. A clean seventh inning on May 10 against the Diamondbacks, a win earned the following day with a scoreless 11^th that included a hit batter, and a spotless seventh on May 13 against the Blue Jays.

Perhaps it’s sneaked up on a few people, but Kimbrel is in a dominant stretch with eight consecutive scoreless, hitless and walk-less outings, and he’s struck out 10. The last five have resulted in saves to push his season total to 13 and career mark to 430.

Opponents are hitless in 22 at-bats against him in these eight games.

Relievers take longer to drain the air out of an ERA based on their limited innings. One dud can destroy it for weeks. Kimbrel had a bunch. But it’s down to 3.00 with a 0.952 WHIP heading into the series in Toronto that begins tonight.

“He had a great April and he had a handful of games there where he lost command, had a little (upper)-back thing, body wasn’t feeling great,” Hyde said last week. “I think the reset we gave him and pitching him in a few games in a different spot, I don’t know if that got him going or not, but it seemed to and he’s been pitching really well ever since.”

Improved health is a factor, but there’s more to it, including early work on his delivery. And it isn’t complicated.

“I’ve been able to get ahead of guys and I’ve been having opportunities to strike them out or get them to swing at pitches out of the zone,” Kimbrel said yesterday. “When I’ve fallen behind guys, I’ve been able to make certain pitches to get them to swing and miss, in on the hands, or getting lucky and they’re hitting it hard at somebody and getting kind of a free out.

“It’s been simple. It’s just throwing strikes and not making bad pitches.”

The back soreness didn’t linger and wasn’t solely responsible for a slump that followed a stretch at the beginning where Kimbrel allowed one earned run in his first 11 games with the Orioles.

“Feeling better,” he said, “but at this point in my career it’s come in and figure it out every day. But I’ve been on a good roll the last couple weeks and hopefully I can keep it going.”

The Orioles need it. They won’t have All-Star closer Félix Bautista until the 2025 season as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. They signed Kimbrel at the Winter Meetings to a contract that guarantees $13 million this year.

They made him an immediate target in free agency, and his effectiveness and reliability allows the rest of the relievers to slot into more comfortable roles, including Yennier Cano in setup.

“He’s cleaned up a couple different things with his delivery,” said Mitch Plassmeyer, who was promoted from minor league pitching coordinator to major league assistant pitching coach. “Obviously, just getting some more reps in, feeling a little bit better day to day kind have gotten him back on track a little bit.”

Injury concerns run rampant in the rotation.

John Means and Tyler Wells will undergo surgeries to repair the ulnar collateral ligaments in their right elbows, and Dean Kremer is recovering from a strained right triceps.

The Orioles aren’t listing their starters for Wednesday and Thursday in Toronto.

The subtractions and constant shuffling haven’t prevented the Orioles from posting the third-best record in the American League and winning eight of their last 10 games.

“I think you see it a lot in the minor leagues, maybe not as much in the major leagues,” Plassmeyer said. “These guys are fantastic with how they go about their business. I think the big thing for me is, these guys keeping their routines, being able to go to work every day and be able to dominate their day to day. And we’ve seen guys do that. They communicate extremely well with how they’re feeling and what they want to do as we kind of adjust. It’s been really good on those guys’ parts.”

Cole Irvin is back in the rotation after making two relief appearances and holding the Rays to two runs yesterday to 6 1/3 innings.

What’s impressed Plassmeyer the most is how Irvin maintains consistency in his routine despite the changes.

“He’s a guy who really prides himself on how he attacks every outing, how he grades every outing and kind of learns from it,” Plassmeyer said. “I think he’s just continued to learn at a pretty high rate so far this year.”

Plassmeyer was hired in May 2022 as minor league pitching coordinator after working as pitching coach and director of player development at the University of Missouri. The Orioles promoted him to the majors over the winter as Darren Holmes’ replacement.

“It’s been great,” Plassmeyer said. “I think the culture on the pitching side, the culture of our staff and our team, has made it a real easy transition. I think it kind of mirrors what we try to do in the minors and it’s kind of bred from what these guys have kind of created and passed down to guys.”