Braves turn to Craig Kimbrel as their 2025 season is on the brink of collapse

The Braves are officially in desperation mode and it’s gotten so bad, they believe that Craig Kimbrel will save their season from an early-June collapse.

After blowing an absolutely brutal 10-4 lead in the ninth inning on Thursday — yes, they gave up seven runs in the ninth — Atlanta is turning back the clock and calling up 37-year-old former All-Star Craig Kimbrel from Triple-A Gwinnett.

That’s per Ken Rosenthal, who reported the move after Atlanta’s latest bullpen implosion against the Diamondbacks.

Braves turn to Craig Kimbrel to save the season

In the wake of today’s ninth-inning collapse, the Braves are summoning Craig Kimbrel from Triple A, source tells @TheAthletic

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 5, 2025

Look, the Braves don’t really have a choice right now. Closer Raisel Iglesias has been a mess, with four blown saves already this year and a 6.75 ERA. You can’t protect any kind of lead with that going on.

Enter Kimbrel, who hasn’t exactly been lights out in Triple-A either — 8 walks in 14.2 innings — but when you’re 11.5 games out of first in the NL East and just coughed up one of the worst ninth-inning meltdowns you’ll see all year, you’re grabbing whatever life preserver you can.

Kimbrel’s last MLB run came in 2024 with Baltimore, where he struggled to a 5.33 ERA, lost his control, and got cut before the playoffs. Now, the Braves are hoping he can summon at least a little of his old form to stabilize a bullpen that has completely unraveled.

And no, I’m not going to make Phillies fans remember what happened in the NLCS against the D-Backs. That would be horrible given the current state of The Fightins. We all remember and will leave it at that.

Craig Kimbrel, Throw In The Damn Towel:

Thursday’s collapse dropped Atlanta to 27-34 on the season — a far cry from where this team thought it would be after running away with the East last year.

At this point, it’s hard to say if Kimbrel is the answer (he’s not)…but the Braves are out of other ones so it’s worth a shot.

Join The Chase