Complain about Kimbrel here:

[Chisoxmb35]

4 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

He has a 4.24 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 5.79 ERA and has given up 2 homers in 9 innings.

He also has 4 Wild pitches in those 9 innings.

He's also got the 3rd highest contract on the team. Again, the excuses for Kimbrel are laughable. He needs to be dominant, not just another guy.

I hated the deal when it first broke and I hate it even more now that he's reverted to being bad again. 

[southsider2k5]

It will be interesting to see if Tony does flip Liam and Kimbrel, just to see if he can get Kimbrel to settle in.  It will tell us if this is something where his comfort and mentality haven't been able to adjust to setting up for the first time in forever, or if he is having an actual pitching problem.

[Jose Abreu]

My two cents if anyone's interested

TL/DR: Kimbrel's fastball command is a (correctable) issue, but he has been more unlucky than bad since the trade 

[zisk]

2 hours ago, mqr said:

I disagree, but that's beside the point. They traded two members of the supporting cast who were awol anyway to bolster a spot (non-hendriks relievers ) that has been awful with someone who had been absolutely lights out. 

It was worth a shot even if it blows up

It already has.

[Colome's Hat]

Just now, zisk said:

It already has.

What if he's lights out in September and October?

[Colome's Hat]

21 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

My two cents if anyone's interested

TL/DR: Kimbrel's fastball command is a (correctable) issue, but he has been more unlucky than bad since the trade 

Lol.  was about to post this haha.

[mqr]

Just now, Colome's Hat said:

What if he's lights out in September and October?

What matters is what happens in August, obviously

[Chick Mercedes]

20 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I just don't understand why they want to die on the Craig Kimbrel can pitch the 8th inning hill.  It would be different if he wasn't one of the best closers in baseball history but those 371 career saves don't lie. Do something different. 

Unfortunately the only thing they can do is take turns closing games. No easy way put of this. The thirst for Kimbrel always seemed weird.

[Balta1701]

2 minutes ago, mqr said:

What matters is what happens in August, obviously

Well, if they are hoping to trade him in the offseason, these bad outings will make a solid dent in his value

 

[Jose Abreu]

8 minutes ago, Colome's Hat said:

Lol.  was about to post this haha.

Thanks for reading

[Harold's Leg Lift]

4 minutes ago, Chick Mercedes said:

Unfortunately the only thing they can do is take turns closing games. No easy way put of this. The thirst for Kimbrel always seemed weird.

The thirst for him to be put in the best position to succeed is weird. WTF

[NWINFan]

If Kimbrel doesn't like his role, I don't understand it. First, he gets traded from a shit team to a contending team. And he has a vital role to play on that contending team. What in the hell is the problem?

[Tony]

25 minutes ago, NWINFan said:

If Kimbrel doesn't like his role, I don't understand it. First, he gets traded from a shit team to a contending team. And he has a vital role to play on that contending team. What in the hell is the problem?

The role thing is bullshit. He was brought into a close game, in the 8th inning, to face the heart of the order last night. If you can’t get hyped for that role, then find another profession. I can understand when a closer doesn’t have “it” when they are brought into a 9-1 game or something, but last night? Give me a break. 

[caulfield12]

17 hours ago, maxjusttyped said:

How many millions of dollars have the improvements of Rodon and Cease been worth to the White Sox organization? Or helping Giolito go from a train wreck into someone who regularly appears on CY ballots.

Literally in your first sentence you wrote " Katz has been pretty underwhelming so far" no where in your post do you specify you were *only* talking about the bullpen. Sure, if you look at the areas the pitching has underwhelmed, he doesn't look as good. If you look at the staff as a whole, they've been arguably the best in baseball. Given how many pitchers needed to take drastic steps forward for that to happen, he deserves a ton of credit.

Millions to Rodon and Boras Corp for sure.

[South Side Hit Men]

11 minutes ago, Tony said:

The role thing is bullshit. He was brought into a close game, in the 8th inning, to face the heart of the order last night. If you can’t get hyped for that role, then find another profession. I can understand when a closer doesn’t have “it” when they are brought into a 9-1 game or something, but last night? Give me a break. 

I agree, but tell that to Tony, he's brought it up multiple times postgame this month, once to cover both Craig and Liam when they were brought in during a tie game. "It's not a save opportunity,"

Edited August 24, 2021 by South Side Hit Men

[SCCWS]

1 hour ago, Tony said:

The role thing is bullshit. He was brought into a close game, in the 8th inning, to face the heart of the order last night. If you can’t get hyped for that role, then find another profession. I can understand when a closer doesn’t have “it” when they are brought into a 9-1 game or something, but last night? Give me a break. 

Kimbrel had 2 wild pitches last night. Not sure that is a sign of a guy not hyped up.  More likely a guy too hyped up

[Tnetennba]

 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, Tnetennba said:

 

[poppysox]

20 hours ago, SCCWS said:

Kimbrel had 2 wild pitches last night. Not sure that is a sign of a guy not hyped up.  More likely a guy too hyped up

Nail...meet hammer.   He is still trying to prove himself to teammates and fans.  He will figure it out soon IMO.

[Harry Chappas]

The 8th inning of a game in August and October are vastly different.

The trade could be a disaster but until the White Sox season is over there is no evaluating it.  Neither of the guys traded for Kimbrel were moving the needle on this season as one is hurt and the other was most likely about to get his locker moved to Charlotte.

[FoxForce2]

This Liam/Kimbrel experiment might make a great post-grad thesis for a Sports Psychology student.

[poppysox]

19 minutes ago, FoxForce2 said:

This Liam/Kimbrel experiment might make a great post-grad thesis for a Sports Psychology student.

Many parts of this game are played between the ears.

[hi8is]

Quote from a bleacher report article titled “The 9 Most Boneheaded Decisions of the MLB Season”…

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2947477-the-9-most-boneheaded-decisions-of-the-mlb-season.amp.html

It was a big deal when the Chicago White Sox acquired ace reliever Craig Kimbrel on deadline day, but then they had the brilliant idea of turning one of baseball's all-time great closers into a setup man.

Though the thinking these days is that elite relievers should be able to work in any high-leverage situation, Kimbrel always has been and still is an old-school type who lives for when the game is on the line.

His career ERA in non-save situations is 57 pointshigher than in save situations. His ERA in the eighth inning is 127 points higher than his ERA in the ninth, in which he's only allowed eight hits and zero runs in 2021.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa has nonetheless brought Kimbrel out in the eighth inning in nine of his 10 appearances with the team. He's unsurprisingly struggled to the tune of a 6.48 ERA in those outings, with one blown save and one loss. 

It's easy to pin this all on La Russa, particularly in light of the other controversies (see here, here and here) he's courted this season. But the blame for the White Sox's misuse of Kimbrel also flows up to the club's front office. In any case, they'd better hope the damage isn't irreparable.

[South Side Hit Men]

 

 

[chw42]

Just now, South Side Hit Men said:

 

 

He said he was yanking his fastball, which was one of his biggest issues with the Cubs in 19 and 20. Notice how his curve didn't break like a slider yesterday? We can talk about psychology all we want, but his mechanics were out of whack before he fixed them between his outings in Toronto.