Feb 23, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves assistant coach Charlie Leibrandt (left) talks with pitcher Craig Kimbrel during spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
To Change or Not to Change?
Yesterday we had some fun figuring out what the impact might be if Craig Kimbrel were to adopt a change-up as part of his already-intimidating pitch weaponry. Today comes a different take – from Kimbrel…
Kimbrel throws a changeup during ST every year. Says,it helps w/ his extension and prevents him from taxing his arm w/ too many curveballs
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 27, 2015
We could take him at his word. But comments from yesterday seem to suggest that this was a new thing to the hitters involved in the live batting practice exercise. Furthermore, Fredi Gonzalez seemed to not know about the pitch, saying to Dave O’Brien “He’s probably just playing with it. Add a third pitch if he has to. I don’t know how much he’ll use it when the games start.”
Oh, and he also threw both the change and the curve to Melvin Upton Jr:
Kimbrel vs. Upton pic.twitter.com/5Un2y6UvyK
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 26, 2015
It’s hard to make out the exchange between hitter and catcher after that first pitch, but it seems clear that something unexpected was thrown. The next pitch – the curve – elicited a comment about “jelly legs.”
So with all that… I’m not yet buying what Craig is selling. Sure, it’s very possible that he’s just messing around. But I’d also say there’s at least a possibility that Kimbrel was trying to keep that pitch under wraps a little longer. Stay tuned.
All that aside, the best line from that BP session yesterday came from Freddie Freeman:
Freeman: "I haven't seen live pitching since Sept. 28. Now I get Teheran and Kimbrel (in live BP). Sweet."
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 26, 2015