Phillies' Rotation Strong Enough To Potentially Skip All-Star As First Choice Closer

The Philadelphia Phillies have a rotation so strong it could mean even Craig Kimbrel is not the first choice to close.

Craig Kimbrel is likely headed to the Hall of Fame one day.

The All-Star closer will enter the 2023 season with the Philadelphia Phillies with 394 saves, seventh all-time.

But he may be the fourth option for the Phillies in a closing situation.

It’s a bizarre but realistic situation for Kimbrel, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal to join the Phillies this season.

Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto and Jose Alvarado will all receive chances to close games.

Can Kimbrel be successful if he’s not the main closer?

"I think it's an easy topic to talk about, especially as long as I've done it," Kimbrel told reporters at spring training. "It's easy to say, 'Oh he's struggling because it's not the ninth inning.' That's not the case. I'm struggling because I'm giving up runs, not putting up zeroes. I think maybe at the beginning, some of it could have contributed to that, but I think at this point, I'm willing to do what I need to do.

"I have an understanding of what this team needs to be successful. It may not be the ninth inning every night. Do I think I'm gonna have the ninth inning a good amount of times? I hope so. I think a lot of guys in this bullpen will have those opportunities a lot. I think it's gonna be spread out and whatever is the best scenario to win the game."

Kimbrel converted his first 10 save opportunities with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season but it was choppy at times. Then came four losses and three blown during one long stretch in the middle of the season.

The Phillies believed the one-year deal to add Kimbrel was well worth the risk.

"Kinda like a heartbeat, up and down, up and down," Kimbrel told reporters of last season. "I had some stretches I felt pretty comfortable about and I had some stretches where at times I couldn't even look at myself because I was disappointed in my performance, disappointed in how some of the games turned out. All I try to do is put myself in position to succeed. I think at times last year, I struggled to put myself there and consistently stay there. I learned a lot about myself.

“I learned a lot about what makes me successful and what makes me not successful. Even in tough times, I look for positives and some of those positives were just understanding myself better and understanding where I need to be."

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