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| Craig Kimbrel's 2015 Topps baseball card was his last in a Braves uniform. Saves were not the Braves' priority back then, so they traded him to the Padres on Opening Day. |
When Craig Kimbrel was a hot-shot kid and I was a rookie blogger, I posted that he might become the first Hall of Fame who never batted in a big-league game.
Despite his inglorious exit from the Atlanta Braves on June 7, Kimbrel might yet make the Hall of Fame. He ranks fifth all-time with 440 career saves. Three of the men ahead of him have plaques in Cooperstown: Mariano Rivera with 652 saves, Trevor Hoffman with 601, and Lee Smith with 478. The only active player with more saves is Kenley Jansen, 461.
Kimbrel does have more saves than six Hall of Fame relievers: Billy Wagner, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, and Hoyt Wilhelm.
But Kimbrel missed his opportunity to be Cooperstown's version of Moonlight Graham, the sage old doctor in Field of Dreams, who never got his chance to stare down a big-league pitcher, saying his dream would have been to "feel the tingle in your arms as you hit the ball."
Despite his inglorious exit from the Atlanta Braves on June 7, Kimbrel might yet make the Hall of Fame. He ranks fifth all-time with 440 career saves. Three of the men ahead of him have plaques in Cooperstown: Mariano Rivera with 652 saves, Trevor Hoffman with 601, and Lee Smith with 478. The only active player with more saves is Kenley Jansen, 461.
Kimbrel does have more saves than six Hall of Fame relievers: Billy Wagner, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, and Hoyt Wilhelm.
But Kimbrel missed his opportunity to be Cooperstown's version of Moonlight Graham, the sage old doctor in Field of Dreams, who never got his chance to stare down a big-league pitcher, saying his dream would have been to "feel the tingle in your arms as you hit the ball."
As a closer—a game-ending relief pitcher—Kimbrel's job description did not require him ever to come to bat. But when I looked it up, he did bat twice in his career, in 2015 with the Padres and 2021 with the Cubs. Both times, he struck out. 
I don't know the circumstances of the first time, but it was probably something like 2021. This was the year before the National League instituted the designated hitter. Kimbrel entered a scoreless game in the bottom of the ninth, and after the Cubs took the lead in the 10th, they couldn't pinch-hit for him, because they needed him to finish the game. (In this case, he was credited with the win, not a save.) As best as I can tell, he worked a full count before taking strike three.
When I set out to research this, I googled "Craig Kimbrel" "plate appearance" and look what AI came up with:
What in the name of Rick Camp?
AI's source was a Red Sox notebook story from the 2018 World Series. The lead item quoted Kimbrel, and the second section discussed Mookie Betts' first home in 98 post-season plate appearances.
Whiff! AI can't read subheads.
If AI had googled "Hall of Fame pitcher with fewest at-bats," it might have discovered that the record-holder is Jack Morris, who batted once in 1987, in a DH swap-out. At least he didn't strike out.
Morris (elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017, 23 years after his retirement) actually scored four runs in the big leagues, as a pinch runner. He and Rivera (who went 0-for-3) are tied for the lowest batting average in the Hall of Fame.
