The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a scare in their series finale against the San Diego Padres as Craig Kimbrel was drilled on his upper back by a 100.5 mph line drive off Jake Cronenworth’s bat.
The right-hander initially remained in the game but proceeded to allow two runs and ultimately blew his third save of the season. Kimbrel has not appeared on the mound since but will be available to pitch in Wednesday’s matchup against the Colorado Rockies after his CT scan came back negative.
“He’ll be available tomorrow,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game on Tuesday. “So Craig did throw today, threw yesterday, felt good, had the CT scan, came back clean, so he’ll be available tomorrow.”
Roberts revealed a CT scan was ordered for Kimbrel due to X-Rays not always being accurate. “I think just for us, our medical staff, speaking for them, it was more of he felt good yesterday to catch play,” Roberts said.
“But with the X-Ray, everything can’t be detected. So I think for us to just check every box and make sure that nothing shows up on the scan, just so we can make sure that we’re free and clear.”
Kimbrel has not allowed an earned run since June 19 but his 2022 season as a whole has been largely inconsistent. In 28 games, he owns a 1-4 record, 4.78 ERA, 1.97 FIP, 1.52 WHIP and 14 saves with 41 strikeouts against 12 walks across 26.1 innings pitched.
Despite this, Roberts will continue to stick with Kimbrel in the ninth inning. “Yeah, Craig will be in his closer role tomorrow,” Roberts said. “And we’ll have a few guys down tomorrow once we sort of reassess for tomorrow’s game.”
Roberts impressed with Graterol filling in for Kimbrel
With Kimbrel sidelined, Brusdar Graterol stepped into the closer role on Tuesday and threw a scoreless inning against the Rockies to record his second save of the season.
“Brusdar was really good,” Roberts began. “I just love the way he was pounding the strike zone. Obviously, the stuff’s there, he threw a really good slider, a couple good sliders tonight.
“And when he’s efficient, getting ahead of guys, throwing strikes, putting the ball on the ground, he’s pretty good. So to get him up tonight, get a save for him and not too much stress was great.”
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