Craig Kimbrel recorded his first career balk, and here’s why he did it on purpose (Video)
By Josh Hill
Why did Chicago Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel balk on purpose in the middle of a save situation?
We’ve heard of the intentional walk, but what about an intentional balk?
Chicago Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel recorded his first career balk on Wednesday night, but the major takeaway is that he did it on purpose.
Wait, what?
In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and a runner on second, Kimbrel balked and allowed the runner to advance 90 feet from scoring. It seems like a weird thing to do but it was all by design and makes a lot more sense once the context of the balk is digested.
First off, here’s the balk:
Why did Craig Kimbrel balk on purpose?
The whole situation feels a little off, as Kimbrel steps on, then off, then back on the rubber. The issue seems to be the runner on second, which forces catchers to change up the types of signs they give in order to ensure those signs aren’t stolen.
That appears to be the case where with Willson Contreras and it looks to be throwing Kimbrel’s rhythm off. Rather than try to power through and potentially blow a three-run lead wide open, Kimbrel intentionally balked to move the runner to third so that he and Contreras could return to their normal flow of signs.
It’s weird, and certainly not something that happens a lot in baseball, but it’s a truly strategic move. With the runner on third and the normal flow of signs streaming from home plate to the mound, Kimbrel struck out the batter and ended the game with his save — and the Cubs win — intact.