Theo Epstein: Craig Kimbrel’s late arrival was the ‘single biggest reason’ for his struggles

Craig Kimbrel signed with the Cubs with plenty of fanfare in June. His on-field performance didn’t match the hype.

Kimbrel entered Thursday with a 6.53 ERA and a 1.6 WHIP in 20 2/3 innings with the Cubs. The highest ERA of his career before this season was 3.40. He hasn’t had a WHIP above 1.1 since his rookie year.

Theo Epstein has a theory why Kimbrel struggled, although there’s nothing surprising about it.

“We knew that given that he wouldn’t have a normal spring training, given that he was trying to do something that very few had ever done before, which was join the team midstream in a closer’s role, that there would be some risk,” Epstein said in an interview on 670 The Score on Thursday. “We felt it was certainly a risk worth taking. I think it’s impossible to pinpoint how much of his struggles have been because of that, but from my perspective it’s the single biggest factor. He’s never struggled like this before. He’s never even been close to having this type of performance before.”

This feels like a rather passive way of describing how that situation came into being, doesn’t it?