Much criticism has landed on Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez since the Braves' miserable exit last night from the National League playoffs. Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel, the game's best reliever, was warm and ready in the bullpen, but Gonzalez says he never gave thought to bringing his closer in early.
Gonzalez argued Kimbrel was capable of getting four outs, but not six. That's strange and arbitrary, and it seems to run counter to Kimbrel's own claims captured by TBS in the top of the ninth after Braves reliever David Carpenter coughed up the lead. We asked our resident lip reader Evan Brunell to try and decipher what Kimbrel said to a bullpen coach in the above clip:
Kimbrel: No, I'm mad because I told him if you're [partially obscured, appears to be '"running out of staff now"] you'll get fucking two innings.
Coach: Alright, that's fine.
Make of that what you will.
Update, 3:46 p.m.: Evan emails:
Looked at it with fresh eyes and I think I got it:
"No, I'm mad because I told him, if we're winning after seven, I want to throw the last fucking two innings."