Everyone who has seen Craig Kimbrel close out an important game will never forget it.
From the jump, before he ever throws a pitch, Kimbrel catches your attention. As soon as the first batter comes to the plate, Kimbrel leans in to look for the catcher’s sign, a product of a bygone era when, well, catchers actually made signs with their fingers for what pitch to throw instead of using the PitchCom communication system. There is no sign coming anymore, but old habits die hard.
But, Kimbrel doesn’t just lean in. He bends so that his upper body is parallel to the ground and sticks his right arm out to dangle at his side, staring towards the plate with one of the meanest mugs the game has ever seen. He’s a predator ready to pounce, a lion stalking its prey.
Kimbrel’s fighting stance is emblematic of the way he’s approached pitching his entire career.
Kimbrel made it to the big leagues in 2010, around two years after he was taken in the third round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. He immediately dominated, pitching to an 0.44 ERA in 20.1 innings in his cameo of a debut season.
Ahead of the 2011 season, the Braves realized that Kimbrel, with his high-90s fastball and power curveball, had the repertoire to be their full-time closer.
Right out of the gate, he proved fit for the role. He blew the MLB record for saves by a rookie (set by Neftali Feliz who had 40 in 2010) out of the water with a whopping 46 saves, which also tied him for the National League lead that season.
That season started a streak of four straight campaigns in which Kimbrel led or co-led the National League in saves, making the National League All-Star team each of those seasons as well.
His highest ERA was in that 2011 season, at 2.10. Every other season in that four-year run was sub-2.
Many people remember Kimbrel for that prime edition of his pitching life, a level he didn’t quite maintain for the remainder of his career. That four-season stretch was truly one of the most dominant runs we’ve ever seen out of a relief pitcher, so any reliever would’ve struggled to sustain production like that.
But amidst plenty of changes and challenges, Kimbrel has been remarkable beyond his Atlanta peak.
From 2016-2018, Red Sox Craig Kimbrel was nearly as dominant as he was in Atlanta. He made the All-Star Team each year and had 108 saves over the course of three seasons. 2018 represented the highlight of his tenure in Boston, when he posted 42 saves and helped the Red Sox win a World Series, the only ring of Kimbrel’s career thus far.
But then, Kimbrel went to the Cubs, where his first two seasons were nothing short of an ineffectual, injury-riddled, disaster.
But in 2021, Kimbrel managed to resurrect his Cubs career. In the first half of that season, he had an 0.49 ERA with 23 saves in 39 games and made his eighth All-Star team. A subsequent spell with the Dodgers went just okay, but then Kimbrel made the All-Star team again in Philadelphia.
The 36-year-old Kimbrel is still kicking, although this season was another up and down year, now with the Orioles, which ended with Kimbrel getting designated for assignment in September.
His legacy as a closer is an odd one. He’s fifth on the saves leaderboard all-time with 440 and he’s spread his greatness out over a long period of time, producing 20 or more saves in every full season with the exception of 2019.
But that consistency hasn’t resulted in a long, loyal relationship to any one ball club. Most of the closers ahead of Kimbrel on the leaderboard are known for their dominance with and beloved fan support from one team, like Mariano Rivera of the Yankees, or two teams, like Trevor Hoffman (Padres and Brewers) or Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers and Red Sox. Hoffman also technically played a half season for the Marlins and Jansen a half season for Atlanta, but the point stands.
Kimbrel has played for eight different franchises, staying with just one of them for five seasons and none of the rest for more than three.
He’s gone through a lot of change, whether that’s the uniform, or dealing with his daughter’s harrowing health issues, or the pandemic, or injuries or the one time he changed his walkup song to “Let it Go” from Disney’s hit film Frozen (look it up, it really happened).
But, through it all, he’s kept the same iconic leer towards the catcher, the same fearlessness against every hitter and the same belief that he can close any game against any team at any time.
So, if he wants to come back in 2025, I am almost certain Kimbrel will find a ninth team to play for. He will delight a new fanbase with his antics and could still add more heroic moments to his incredible legacy.
A legacy that shows he’s undoubtedly one of the greatest relief pitchers of all time.