Cubs need to take Craig Kimbrel off the active roster

After yet another rough outing Tuesday night, the Cubs should take Craig Kimbrel off their active roster.

The Chicago Cubs escaped with a 5-4 over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, but it didn’t have to be that way. Craig Kimbrel entered the game with a three-run lead in the ninth inning, then allowed a single and a double with a strikeout in between. With the tying run at the plate in the matter of 11 pitches, he was pulled in favor of Kyle Ryan. who eventually got the final two outs and his first save of the season.

Kimbrel was credited with a hold, his second of the season in three appearances (which may expose a flaw in that stat). After the runners in scoring position Ryan inherited from him scored, surely with high scoring probability after he registered just one out, Kimbrel’s ERA for the season is now 32.40.

Kimbrel now has an 8.46 ERA for the Cubs since signing a three-year, $43 million deal with them last June, and his struggles date back to late in the 2018 season with the Boston Red Sox. His late start in 2019, as draft pick compensation was attached to signing him after he was given a qualifying offer, was not particularly helpful overall.

The Cubs are 9-2, and already in relative command of the NL Central four games clear of everyone else. They’ve managed to navigate around Kimbrel’s struggles, winning all three games he has appeared in. But he has made it too interesting twice, with reduced fastball velocity and a curveball that’s fooling no one.

Is Craig Kimbrel’s roster spot in peril?

On Friday, the two-week mark since the season started in earnest, MLB teams have to trim their active rosters from the current 30 down to 28. Two weeks after that, it becomes 26 with the option to add a 27th player for doubleheaders.

As the Cubs consider who they’ll trim from the active roster this week, Kimbrel is an obvious candidate. He hasn’t pitched that much, and when he has he’s been a disaster. Maybe he should bring back the beard.

There’s a case for giving him one more opportunity over the next couple days, ideally in a low leverage situation. Remove his name and salary from the equation though, and there’s a good chance Kimbrel would already be off the Cubs’ active roster.