{"id":173500,"date":"2026-03-01T03:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T03:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/173500\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T03:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T03:58:08","slug":"craig-kimbrel-shows-velocity-increase-in-mets-spring-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/173500\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Kimbrel shows velocity increase in Mets spring debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 In a bullpen that\u2019s been overhauled since last year, with former closer Edwin D\u00edaz now a Dodger, replaced by Devin Williams following a rough season in The Bronx, among the most intriguing members is Craig Kimbrel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only four pitchers have recorded more career saves than the right-hander who turns 38 in May and is still looking to contribute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kimbrel is coming off a season in which he did not record any saves and was released twice before he finished the year with Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He made his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday and had mixed results in his one inning, as Kimbrel gave up a run and walked a pair of batters in a 3-2 loss to Washington at Clover Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At this point of Kimbrel\u2019s career, though, he\u2019s not overly concerned about the numbers \u2014 although he was bothered by the two free passes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, Kimbrel said his body felt good and he was working his way back into form, and following Saturday\u2019s appearance, Carlos Mendoza was encouraged by some of the veteran\u2019s stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Mets pitcher Craig Kimbrel (46) throws in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Port St. Lucie. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

There was increased velocity on his fastball and Kimbrel said he\u2019s trying to integrate a cutter into his arsenal \u201cto get guys off my fastball and open up some offspeed opportunities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good to go out there and compete and get on track to where I want to be,\u2019\u2019 Kimbrel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mets could have a spot for Kimbrel in the pen if he proves that he\u2019s still capable of getting batters out and the team values his presence in camp, but he turns 38 in May and will have to earn a spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Mets pitcher Craig Kimbrel (46) reacts in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals during Spring Training at Clover Field. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Mendoza said Saturday that Luis Robert Jr. is scheduled to play his first game of the spring Wednesday, adding that it will be on the minor league side as the team looks to keep the center fielder \u2014 acquired from the White Sox<\/a> in the offseason for a package that included Luisangel Acu\u00f1a \u2014 healthy after Robert battled lower-body injuries during the previous two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been getting at-bats, but the team has held off on putting Robert in game situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mendoza said Francisco Lindor has not yet progressed to impact activities \u2014 like catching a ball \u2014 after getting the stitches out of his surgically repaired left hand<\/a> following the stress fracture in his hamate bone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting a lot of exercise and [building] strength in that area,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said of the shortstop who advanced to long toss and one-handed swings Friday. \u201cHe\u2019s continuing to get stronger before we start impact drills.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grae Kessinger, in camp as shortstop depth, was scheduled to get an MRI on Saturday after injuring his left knee in Friday\u2019s game against the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla., was on crutches in the clubhouse Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 In a bullpen that\u2019s been overhauled since last year, with former closer Edwin D\u00edaz…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[77015,3817,12193,171,173,172,110,20253],"class_list":["post-173500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-craig-kimbrel","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}