Veteran Orioles reliever gets lit up so bad by SF Giants that he gets DFA'd

The SF Giants have been stagnant on offense quite a bit recently. However, last night they exploded for 6 runs in the 9th inning against long-time MLB closer Craig Kimbrel. In so doing, they effectively got Kimbrel designated for assignment by the Orioles.

Kimbrel was signed by the Orioles in the offseason to bolster the back end of their bullpen. Kimbrel has had a very long and successful career as a closer in the big leagues. He spent many years with the Atlanta Braves where he had a number of All-Star seasons and recorded 40 or more saves from 2011-2014.

He has played for many teams in his big league career including the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and of course the Orioles and Braves.

SF Giants hit Craig Kimbrel right out of a job

He was an All-Star just last year with the Phillies and seemed to be continuing that pace for tne Orioles in 2023. He had a very solid first half but has completely collapsed in the second half with a 10.59 ERA since the All-Star break. He has 23 saves on the year but the last one came back on July 7th.

His last two appearances were brutal. On September 9th against the Red Sox he gave up 2 earned runs. Then, he had what was likely the worst outing of his career against the Giants last night. He gave up 3 hits and 2 walks and allowed all 6 of the runs that the Giants scored in the 9th inning while only recording 2 outs.

It bears pointing out that the Giants have struggled mightily on offense as of late. They have regularly made pitchers that have unimpressive numbers look like Cy Young candidates. So the fact that Kimbrel looked that bad against an offense as poor as the Giants was just the straw that broke the camel's back for the Orioles.

The Giants can relate a little bit since their closer Camilo Doval struggled so much that he lost his job as closer. The main difference is that the Giants are not going to be in the postseason and it would be very unlikely for them to get rid of Doval.

The Giants offense does not have much to hang its hat on this year, but they can at least take some pride in the fact that they knocked around one of the best MLB relievers of the past 15 years so badly that the team he plays for decided to let him go.