Marlins 1, Nats 0
It will get lost in the shuffle of another demolition at the hands of Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez. But Nationals rookie reliever Cole Kimball made his major-league debut on Saturday against Florida. We knew at some point this season that Kimball would force his way into the bullpen. He was too good in the Arizona Fall League last year and more than held his own during spring training, too.
That continued at Triple-A Syracuse. Kimball, 25, threw 13 2/3 scoreless innings for the Chiefs and converted all five of his save opportunities. Opponents were also hitting just .163 against him. Over the last two minor-league seasons Kimball was a combined 9-1 with 23 saves and a 1.85 ERA in 69 games with Syracuse, Double-A Harrisburg and Single-A Potomac. He’d also posted 115 strikeouts during that stretch – 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Kimball earned more attention in the AFL with a 0.75 ERA, a save and 15 strikeouts in 11 appearances against some of the big leagues’ top prospects.
Kimball was a 12th-round draft selection by Washington in 2006 and in the midst of his sixth minor-league season. Experience at this level is lacking. But when you have power stuff and a demeanor that should play well at the back-end of a big-league bullpen your time will come. Saturday’s game against Florida was it.
Kimball actually came on in a big spot. The Nats were down 1-0 heading into the ninth inning and with the offense in a funk couldn’t afford to fall behind further. So Kimball struck out the red-hot Gaby Sanchez. He then got a line-drive out from Logan Morrison to second base. A walk to power hitter Mike Stanton was the lone blemish. Greg Dobbs ended the inning with a fly out to left. After the game two balls sat in Kimball’s locker – the one from his first strikeout and the one used for his first pitch. Not bad for a kid who didn’t sleep a lick last night after learning the news – in his own bed or on the plane to Washington.
“One leg shaking while I was taking the sign and the other leg was shaking when I threw the pitch,” Kimble cracked about his nerves on the mound. “It was exciting. It was nice. Would have been better if we won, but it was a good ballgame.”
Kimball took an early-morning flight from Syracuse to get to Washington in time for the 1:05 p.m. start at Nationals Park. No chance even for his immediate family to make it to the ballpark. Kimball hopes to have his host family from his days at Single-A Potomac on hand for Sunday’s game. They live in Fairfax County and that’s where Kimball stayed during his 58 games with the P-Nats in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Fellow young reliever Henry Rodriguez, 24, was acquired from the Oakland A’s in the Josh Willingham trade during the offseason. He also showed some signs of progress, coming on in the eighth with the score 1-0 and striking out both Omar Infante and Hanley Ramirez swinging. Manager Jim Riggleman’s assessment?
“[Kimble] and Henry both did some work. Henry hadn’t pitched in a while. Cole just getting here – but Cole hadn’t pitched in about four days also. So they both needed to pitch. We’d rather that they didn’t pitch today because that means we would have been up in the eighth instead of down. But looking for something to be positive on that side of the game is that [Kimble] came in, handled that inning real well, and Henry did, too.”
Because the Nats’ starters have thrived so far in 2011 – only twice has one not made it through five complete innings – a long man in the bullpen proved unnecessary for now. That left Brian Broderick, 24, the odd man out. The Rule 5 pick-up from St. Louis this winter was designated for assignment to make room for Kimble. He will return to Syracuse – but only if he clears waivers and the other 28 big-league clubs pass. Even then Washington must offer him back to St. Louis for $25,000 – half the price the Nats paid to draft him in the first place. If the Cardinals decline then Broderick can head to Syracuse. Broderick pitched in the 11th inning of Friday’s 6-5 loss to Florida, allowing the eventual winning run to score. He made 11 appearances for Washington with an 0-1 record and a 6.57 ERA. Broderick pitched 12 1/3 innings total and gave up 16 hits.
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