A CLOSER LOOK
Comparing the seasons of closer Craig Kimbrel and Jason Grilli (as of June 5):
Kimbrel (San Diego); Category; Grilli (Braves)
12; Saves; 15
13; Save Opp.; 16
4.50; ERA; 4.15
1.40; WHIP; 1.38
13.05; Ks/per 9 innings; 12.46
.256; Opp. batting avg.; .250
As the team that agreed to take on Melvin Upton’s contract, the San Diego Padres should be met by an appreciative audience when their four-game series at Turner Field begins Monday.
After all, they were to the Braves what Germany has been to Greece — a valued partner in trying to deal with a crushing debt. Thank you, Padres, for mitigating the Melvin Mistake. Now, could you maybe prop up the Euro, too?
Of course, they had to take the center fielder if they also were to get the closer they badly wanted. Melvin was the baggage in the Craig Kimbrel deal, like the bad mother-in-law that necessarily comes with the good marriage.
What a reunion this series figures to be. Melvin may not be on the grounds — at deadline he still was an El Paso Chihuahua, on rehab in the minors for an injured foot. But there’s the other Upton, Justin, known locally as “The Good One,” who’s on pace to hit .300 with 36 home runs for San Diego. The Braves traded him in December for Jace Peterson and prospects.
And then there’s Kimbrel, who gained considerable popularity throughout the Braves’ sphere while piling up 40-plus saves every season from 2011-14.
If he gets into the game, it does not mean good things for the home team, as the Padres will have a lead and require but three outs to secure it. But don’t you know he’ll still be roundly cheered on his trip in from the foreign bullpen, beyond left field. Why not? And for old times’ sake, just fire up the video flames and crank up “Welcome to the Jungle” on his run to the mound.
On the surface, Kimbrel has been every bit as effective as he was in Braves colors, converting, as of Friday, 12 of 13 save opportunities. Yet, dig deeper, and he is by his own standards in a bit of a lull. He started the season with six consecutive scoreless innings, but has been scored on in half of his next 16 outings. Entering Friday, he has given up as many home runs (three) as he does in a typical season. And his ERA (4.50) is more than three times higher than his 1.43 Braves-career ERA.
“Can the Padres Still Rely on Kimbrel?” was a late-May headline on the San Diego Union-Tribune web site. Who said they were laid back in California?
It’s a little early to be fretting over their closer, given a pattern that Kimbrel established with the Braves.
“It seems like throughout my career, once I get out of those first two months and into the summer, I kind of go on a run — and then the team goes on a run, too,” Kimbrel told the San Diego readers.
“Hopefully that can happen again and we can kind of carry the momentum. We have the talent, but have kind of underachieved so far.”
In the same story, Padres manager Bud Black expressed his complete lack of concern. “Put it this way: I’ll take Craig Kimbrel every day of the week.”
You might fully expect Kimbrel to perform some wickedness against the Braves. This already has been the year of the vengeful return for a few of the notable players discarded in the name of rebuilding.
Dan Uggla has done little else with Washington this season, outside hitting .462 against the Braves and breaking out his only home run to beat them at home April 28.
Aaron Harang returned with Philadelphia on May 4 and pitched six winning innings (overall, he’s 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings against the Braves).
Thankfully for the Braves, there is only one more homecoming series of note once the Padres leave town. And that doesn’t come until Games 160-162, when St. Louis and Jayson Heyward/Jordan Walden (if healthy) make their only visit to Turner Field.
Being that the Braves and the Padres were partners in two of the biggest preseason deals — with Kimbrel and Melvin Upton shipped out one day before the opener — their fortunes are tightly interwoven.
John Hart and Padres GM A.J. Preller are close acquaintances. In fact, four years ago, in his life as a consultant, Hart reportedly was asked to name the next up-and-coming star GM. Preller was his immediate answer.
Against each other for these four games at Turner Field, these two will put on display diametrically opposite approaches. They used each other for contradictory ends. One giving up a good number of his comfort players, looking to rebuild the farm system, setting sights two years down the highway. The other voraciously adding star power (Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Kimbrel, Wil Myers, James Shields) for the immediate return.
Entering Friday, Craig Kimbrel’s old team was 26-27, a .490566 winning percentage.
His current team was 27-28, a .490909 percentage.
The right way between two vastly different methods can’t be found in such a slight difference.
