Phillies news and rumors 8/3: Was Craig Kimbrel tipping pitches in blown save?

Did Craig Kimbrel tip his pitches on Tuesday? (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

Craig Kimbrel has largely been nails for the Phillies this season, but Tuesday was not his day.

At first, it seemed like it literally wouldn’t be his day — as in, he wouldn’t be involved at all. Gregory Soto came out for the save in the ninth inning with the Phillies up by one, prompting questions about Kimbrel’s availability (and health) after not throwing on Monday.

But then, when Soto blew it, the game headed to extras and Brandon Marsh gave the Phillies a two-run lead with a pinch-hit homer, Kimbrel was called on to close out a series win in Miami — and he suffered the same fate as Soto.

Kimbrel allowed a groundout, single, double and a sacrifice fly to knot the game back up at seven apiece, stranding the walk-off run at second base.

But the most interesting part of Kimbrel’s night came in between his curious ninth-inning non-usage and his 10th-inning struggles: He opened the 10th by intentionally balking zombie runner Jazz Chisholm Jr. to third.

With the run unimportant due to the two-run lead, and no force play anyway, it’s a move pitchers will sometimes utilize to erase any possibility of runners relaying signs from second to the hitter.

If that was the reasoning, it turns out it might’ve had some legs.

It also might partially explain why Kimbrel didn’t pitch in the ninth. Perhaps the team noticed Kimbrel had been tipping his pitches in previous outings, the Phillies wanted him to make the mechanical adjustments before throwing him into live action and the game’s extension left them no other choice but to use him. Or, perhaps the Phillies simply wanted the lefty Soto to face Luis Arráez to lead off the ninth — and that worked, but Jorge Soler ultimately punished the decision with his game-tying homer.

There are plenty of reasons the Phillies lost that game, and Kimbrel’s pitch-tipping might not even be one of them. But as Thomson said, it’s certainly worth a look, if there’s even the slimmest of chances that failing to address it could expose the Phillies’ most reliable reliever.

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