Red Sox: Kimbrel is looking like his old self of late, giving Red Sox Nation a sigh of relief
By Jon
On the fourth anniversary of the Boston bombings, Craig Kimbrel proved that he is Boston Strong, notching his third save in three games. Kimbrel is now leading the league in saves and is in top form.
After a wild first two saves of the season, Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel has settled down nicely. In just a week, the view on his pitching has changed from a heart attack waiting to happen to a shutdown inning.
By striking out the side in today’s outing, he showed that he is still one of the premiere closers in the game and shouldn’t be forgotten about.
With opponents batting .131 against him with 7 SO, 0 BB, and 0 H in the three games that he pitched in the Tampa Bay series, Kimbrel was the most dominant he has ever been in his short-tenure as a Red Sox player.
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This four-game series brings his season stat line to a 1.29 ERA in 7 IP with 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 SO, and going 6-6 in save opportunities. Hitters are only hitting .125 against him this season. I sense an appearance in July’s all-star game if he keeps this up.
Kimbrel has been so dominant of late because he is finally able to throw his curveball for strikes and when you can do that it forces players to swing at his wild 98-99 mph fastball. It’s a straight guessing game and the hitters are losing every time.
In an interview with Boston Globe writer Alex Speier, the Red Sox bullpen coach had some praise for KImbrel.
"“When [the curveball is] competitive out of the hand and he sells it off the same fastball height, it’s electric stuff. You blend in 99 with angle and you have deception [as to whether the pitch is a fastball or curveball out of the hand], it’s incredible.”"
This season resurgence has brought back memories of his dominant days in Atlanta and rightfully so. In his Atlanta days, Kimbrel was the best closer in all of MLB.
Kimbrel has very similar April numbers when comparing one of his career best seasons, the 2013 50-save season, and this year. He had a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 IP with 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 15 SO, and going 9-10 in save opportunities. The opposing hitters only hit .167 against him.
Watch out American League because the real Craig Kimbrel is back!
Next: Red Sox Play of the Game: Taking advantage of Rays error
Kimbrel is going to show Boston that he was worth the trade after all. He’s been the anchor for the bullpen all season long and he’s not slowing down!