Andres Chavez
The baseball world tried to bury Craig Kimbrel last summer. Quietly. Politely. Like you do with aging relievers whose fastball doesn’t hiss the way it used to.
That was premature.
Kimbrel doesn’t need validation. The man has 440 saves. Only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Kenley Jansen, and Lee Smith have more. That’s not nostalgia talking — that’s history. A 2.58 career ERA. 1,282 strikeouts out of the bullpen. Some starters grind through 12-year careers and never touch that punchout total. So let’s get something straight: this isn’t a camp invite for a fringe arm trying to cheat Father Time. This is a future Hall-of-Conversation reliever who still believes he can get big-league hitters out.
And the Mets? They’re giving him a real shot.
When the New York Mets handed Kimbrel a minor league deal in late January with an invite to camp, it wasn’t a charity move. This is a club that wants to win it all and is pushing its chips toward October. The bullpen is crowded, yes, but crowded doesn’t mean secure. Relievers fluctuate. Contenders know you stockpile options, not names.
Kimbrel is more than a name.
“I can only do what I can do. I still feel like I have the ability to get outs,” Kimbrel told Chelsea Janes of SNY on Wednesday. “And I’m here to show that.”
A roller-coaster-like 2025
That’s not bravado. That’s a guy who understands the clock is ticking but refuses to let it strike midnight quietly.
Last year looked like the epilogue. He opened 2025 in the minors with Atlanta — the same organization where he once ruled the ninth inning like it was personal property. He got one appearance in June. Then a DFA. Most relievers don’t come back from that at 37.
But Houston called. And in 11 innings down the stretch, Kimbrel posted a 2.45 ERA and struck out 16 hitters. The strikeout rate? Over 13 per nine innings. That plays in October. That plays anywhere.
The radar gun isn’t what it was. His four-seamer averaged 93.5 mph with the Astros. A decade ago it flirted with 100 and exploded at the top of the zone. Now? It’s about precision, sequencing, survival.
“It’s different. You definitely have to pay attention to swings a lot more,” Kimbrel said. “When you’re not throwing 100 miles an hour, you kind of have to be on the edges a little more and use your off-speed pitches in useful ways.”
That’s evolution. The great ones either adapt or disappear.
The evolution of a future Hall of Famer
He leaned more heavily on his sweeper and curveball late last season, and the whiff rates ticked up. His curve still returns amazing spin rates. That pitch doesn’t age the way fastballs do. It just needs conviction and command.
And that’s where this gets interesting for the Mets.
Kimbrel has pitched in many postseason games. He’s saved games in October. He’s failed in October. He’s seen everything. That experience doesn’t show up in Statcast, but it shows up when the heartbeat spikes.
And here’s the thing nobody wants to say out loud: if Kimbrel gives you even 75 percent of peak Kimbrel, that’s a weapon. Not a story. A weapon.
He admitted it took time last year.
“I was able to build back up strength. It took a while for my body to get comfortable. It was a long process – probably longer than I hoped it to be. But I was able to get there. But I was pretty comfortable how the year ended, and I was pretty confident going into the offseason that I could turn around and do it again.”
Comfort matters. Confidence matters more.
The Mets don’t need him to be 2012 Kimbrel, the version striking out 16 per nine with cartoonish dominance. They need a savvy, edge-painting veteran who can steal high-leverage outs in the sixth, seventh, maybe even the eighth. Someone who understands that the job description changes with age but the goal never does.
If he shows in Grapefruit League games that the command is sharp and the breaking ball still bites, they’ll find room. You don’t stash 440 saves in your back pocket and get ignored when you prove you can still spin it.
Kimbrel isn’t chasing legacy anymore. That’s secured.
He’s chasing one more parade. And that’s dangerous.
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