Craig Kimbrel Stats
- Height / Weight
- 6' 0" / 215 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- 5/28/1988 (33)
- Experience
- 10
- College
- Wallace State CC
Craig Kimbrel Season Stats
Last 10 Games
Craig Kimbrel News
Chicago Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel worked a perfect 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts to record his 13th save of the season on Tuesday versus the San Diego Padres. Kimbrel continues to be one of the best closers in the league this season. The upcoming free agent now owns a miniscule 0.78 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 23 innings. Kimbrel slipped in many drafts this offseason with a rough 2020 season, but those who invested in him are seeing a huge return on their investment.
Chicago Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel recorded his 11th save of the season versus the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. Kimbrel allowed a double to outfielder Ben Gamel to open the bottom of the ninth, but then retired the next three batters with two strikeouts. Kimbrel has been nothing but phenomenal this season and his ERA of 0.86 continues to decrease. He has also recorded 35 strikeouts in 21 innings and remains one of the best closers of the season to date.
Chicago Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel recorded his tenth save of the season in Tuesday's victory versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kimbrel worked allowed a leadoff double, then got a pop out, strikeout and groundout to end the inning. Kimbrel continues to have a stellar season he has been one of the best closers this year. He now has a 0.90 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 20 innings.
Batting Order
| 1 | Joc Pederson |
| 2 | Kris Bryant |
| 3 | Javier Báez |
| 4 | Anthony Rizzo |
| 5 | Willson Contreras |
| 6 | Patrick Wisdom |
| 7 | Jason Heyward |
| 8 | Sergio Alcántara |
Craig Kimbrel Stats
Last 10 Games
Batting Order
| 1 | Joc Pederson |
| 2 | Kris Bryant |
| 3 | Javier Báez |
| 4 | Anthony Rizzo |
| 5 | Willson Contreras |
| 6 | Patrick Wisdom |
| 7 | Jason Heyward |
| 8 | Sergio Alcántara |
I was the conductor aboard the Avoid-Kimbrel-at-all-Costs Train heading into 2019 AND 2020. I watched every outing of his for the Red Sox in the second half of 2018. Something was very wrong and it continued to get worse as the team marched through the playoffs. So I knew the disastrous 2019 season was no fluke. So what went wrong... again? The theory of tipping pitches came out after the 2018 World Series, and came out again in 2020 after Craig Kimbrel walked four and hit a batter while recording only one out in his first appearance against Cincy. While the theory sounds a little crazy to me when a pitcher only has two pitches to start with, it would certainly explain his recent swing rates against the curveball. Kimbrel only generated a 27.4 Swing% with the curve in 2020. That is 17 points lower than in 2019 and 12 points lower than his career average. The pitch may have lost a bit of movement over the years, but it still carried a 51.9 K% and .143 SLG even in this down year. Regardless of tipping or losing its bite, hitters were able to avoid it and sit on the cheese to the tune of an .812 OPS. Despite all of the troubles the past few seasons for Kimbrel, 2020 ended strongly trending in the right direction. His K% was it's highest since 2017 and the GB% increased for the second straight season, and the velocity was also back up over 97 after a worrisome dip in 2019. He ended the shortened campaign on a torrid run with 7.1 scoreless innings, 13 strikeouts, and ZERO walks. That's something he hasn't done since 2017. I never expect prime Kimbrel to be back, but 2020 showed that he is still capable of figuring it out, and considering Jeremy Jeffress is a free agent and Kimbrel is owed $16 million this season, I have a strong feeling the Cubs are willing to let him. His current NFBC of 217 overall presents an opportunity for a great return on investment if he can carry the momentum into 2021.