There’s one feat still eluding Craig Kimbrel, and he hopes to ‘check off that box’ with the Phillies

The hallway that connects the Phillies’ clubhouse to the dugout is decorated with photos, including poster-sized images of the two most enduring poses in franchise history.

They are iconic Phillies moments, frozen in time. And because the players must pass by the pictures every day on their way to the field, they are well-placed reminders of the ultimate goal each year.

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But for Craig Kimbrel, they symbolize something else: an unfulfilled fantasy.

Kimbrel is a former Rookie of the Year and a nine-time All-Star, including this season with the Phillies. He has five top-10 Cy Young finishes and even received down-ballot MVP votes. He’s racked up more than 100 saves in each league and entered the weekend with 416 in all, eighth-most all time. He’s a World Series champion and possibly a future Hall of Famer.

At age 35, in his 14th major league season, Kimbrel has done it all. Well, almost all.

He hasn’t gotten the final out of the World Series, even though he won it with the Red Sox in 2018.

“It’s a dream. It’s always been a dream,” Kimbrel said last week. “As a kid, when you grow up watching this game, you see the opportunity where a guy can have a walkoff hit to win it all or a pitcher can close it out to win it. It’s very exciting. It’s kind of what you envision.”

Especially once you become one of the most dominant closers of your generation.

But here’s the thing about closers: They seldom throw the last pitch of a season anymore. Maybe it’s just a quirk. Or maybe it’s a reflection of how bullpen usage has changed. Whatever the case, after six of the nine World Series winners from 2002 to 2010 deployed their regular-season saves leader for the crowning out, only three of the last 12 went that route, including none of the champions from 2014 to 2020.

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The trend began in 2014, when the Giants got a five-inning save from Madison Bumgarner in Game 7 on two days’ rest. Since then, more starting pitchers (three) have gotten the final out of the World Series than season-long closers (two). Among them: Red Sox lefty Chris Sale, who struck out the side on 15 pitches to vanquish the Dodgers while Kimbrel sat in the bullpen.

“In that situation, the overall moment of what it was, it overrides any kind of pride that I might have inside me,” Kimbrel said. “I didn’t want any kind of moment like that to be ruined by saying I wanted something.

“Because guess what,” he added. “I still have that opportunity.”

If the Phillies return to the World Series — and if Kimbrel is able to ride his revival season all the way through October. Then, maybe the ninth-inning call will come for him in the clinching game. Maybe.

Kimbrel had a typically solid season in 2018, with a 2.74 ERA, 38.9% strikeout rate, 0.995 WHIP, 42 saves in 47 chances, and an All-Star Game selection for the 108-win Red Sox.

But the playoffs were, in his words, “dang long.”

Kimbrel raised Boston manager Alex Cora’s blood pressure by giving up three runs in two divisional-round games against the Yankees. He allowed two runs in his first two appearances in the AL Championship Series against the Astros, prompting questions about whether Kimbrel was cooked — or worse, injured.

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Former major league closer Eric Gagne theorized that Kimbrel was tipping pitches. Specifically, Gagne suspected runners on second base were able to pick up Kimbrel’s unique curveball grip. Considering he throws only two pitches — fastball and curveball — any tell would provide a major advantage to the hitter.

Gagne reached out to Cora, his former teammate. Kimbrel made a change and pitched a scoreless ninth inning to save the pennant-clinching game in Houston.

Kimbrel appeared in the first three games of the World Series against the Dodgers and didn’t give up a run, including 1⅓ innings of an 18-inning victory in Game 3. But he allowed two runs in Game 4, capping a five-day span in which he made four appearances and threw 78 pitches.

The Red Sox pushed Kimbrel as hard as possible to reach the cusp of a championship, and with a four-run lead in the ninth inning of Game 5, they resisted sending him over the cliff’s edge.

“It wasn’t a save situation,” Kimbrel said. “I was pretty gassed by the end of the playoffs, just with a lot of the [pitch-tipping] stuff that we found out. It made it tough to get through some innings. I threw a lot of pitches. I was able to get through them, thankfully. But in that situation, at that moment, I knew where I was. I knew how I was throwing the ball, and I knew just what the moment meant.

“And we had one of the best pitchers in the game down there and ready to go.”

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So, rather than being at the bottom of the pile of humanity on the mound after the clinching out, Kimbrel sprinted in from the bullpen with the rest of the relievers and joined the party.

“That was definitely [Sale’s] moment,” said Kimbrel, who held his then-infant daughter, Lydia Joy, in his arms on the field during the celebration. “But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about what we did together. I was just so happy. I’ll always remember that.”

The last four seasons were difficult for Kimbrel.

From a protracted free agency that rendered him unsigned until the middle of 2019, to a series of injuries, and a second-half struggle that prompted the Dodgers to exclude him from their playoff roster last year, Kimbrel had a 3.70 ERA and 34.8% strikeout rate from 2019-22 compared to a 2.47 ERA and 40.8% strikeout rate in the four previous seasons. His velocity ticked down. He went from automatic to uncertain.

When the Phillies signed Kimbrel to a one-year, $10 million contract in January, they didn’t promise a chance to close. If anything, manager Rob Thomson preferred to match up in the late innings rather than appointing one closer.

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But the ninth inning has always been Kimbrel’s province. He’s most effective at the end of the game. Former Phillies closer Billy Wagner, his mentor as a rookie with the Atlanta Braves, predicted in January that it would be a matter of time before Kimbrel slotted back into his usual role.

“You’ve got a horse in the stable, you don’t use him for oddities,” Wagner said. “You use him to go out there and close out wins.”

And that’s what Thomson did, especially after José Alvarado went down with elbow inflammation in late May. Kimbrel posted a 0.96 ERA with 43 strikeouts and only seven walks in 28 appearances from May 9 to July 18. He recorded his 400th career save on May 26 and was selected to the All-Star Game.

But the Phillies have leaned heavily on Kimbrel. Going into the weekend, he was on pace for 71 appearances. He hadn’t made more than 68 since he was a rookie in 2011. And although he continues to pitch well, he did blow saves Aug. 2 in Miami (when he appeared to be tipping pitches) and Aug. 30 at home against the Angels.

“I feel great,” said Kimbrel, who credits familiarity with head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit from their years together with the Red Sox for keeping him healthy. “Honestly, I end up feeling a lot worse when I go too many days without pitching. I’ve been able to get up a lot, I’ve been pitching a lot, a lot of close games, a lot of meaningful games.

“And what better place than being here in Philly where, each and every night, we’ve got a crowd that’s cheering us on? That makes it easy on me and helps me perform a lot better.”

It also triggers the imagination. If McGraw raised his arms and Lidge fell to his knees, what would a Kimbrel clinching celebration look like?

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“I think it’s more a natural reaction, emotion than anything,” Kimbrel said. “In a moment like that, you’re thinking about the pitch, you’re thinking about your job. You’re not really thinking about, ‘I’m going to pull out this dance move.’ I think what any guy does is cool. If you get an opportunity like that, it’s pretty special.”

But the ninth inning isn’t reserved for Kimbrel. When it makes sense, such as Monday in San Diego against the heart of the Padres’ order, Thomson has used Kimbrel in the eighth. There’s no telling how the bullpen roles will break down in the playoffs.

“In the big picture, yeah, that is the goal and it always has been,” Kimbrel said of getting the last out. “I’d like to check off that box. I think every single player that touches the rubber wants that. If it happens, it does. If I’m blessed to have that opportunity, it would be amazing. That’s not up to me.

“Let’s put it this way: I’m going to pitch the best I can to make sure it’s up to me. That’s all I can do.”

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