Chicago White Sox: Craig Kimbrel needs to figure it out

The Chicago White Sox, on most nights, is a very good baseball team. However, they played a very annoying game against the Detroit Tigers. They had a 3-0 lead over them and they allowed the Tigers to score four unanswered runs to win the game. It was 3-3 for a long time before Craig Kimbrel came in the bottom of the eight. Unfortunately, Kimbrel allowed the Tigers to take the lead for good.

Kimbrel is an all-time great reliever. He has struggled a little bit with the White Sox and he needs to figure it out soon. He hasn’t been bad but there have certainly been some games where he let things get away from him. This one against Detroit was one of them.

The White Sox needs Kimbrel to be that elite pitcher that we know he can be. He has the ability to be one of the best relievers in the sport. The White Sox haven’t really used him in a closer role as much which might be part of the reason he has struggled. Instead of being the ninth-inning guy, the White Sox have mostly used him in the 8th inning.

If this ends up being the last time that Kimbrel has a bad game, the White Sox have a bullpen that is good enough to win the World Series. With Michael Kopech, Liam Hendriks, Aaron Bummer, Ryan Tepera, and Garrett Crochet in the mix, they have the potential to be one of the best groups in the league.

Craig Kimbrel needs to be better for the Chicago White Sox going forward.

Kimbrel forced two outs early in his inning. After that, he had the third batter down 0-2 before he beaned him. That is where things started to go bad for him. It was a pitch that could have been good if it didn’t slip just an inch too far. Kimbrel had his good stuff before that so he was clearly capable of getting out of the inning. It just all fell apart quickly.

The fact that Kimbrel was so good before the one mistake is encouraging. Nobody should think that this can’t get resolved. It is fair to be concerned but there is plenty of time to be right before October hits. This is an all-time great pitcher that has a chance to be a part of something very special for a long time.

Tony La Russa will surely not be hesitant to put Kimbrel back out there the second he sees fit. Allowing this guy to work through it is going to benefit the White Sox as the season winds down. With the magic number down to two going into Tuesday, things are looking good.