Craig Kimbrell is a machine. Mark my words, he is going to be one of the top few relievers in baseball this season.
So far this season, he has faced 6 batters. 5 of them went back to the dugout with a strikeout. The other one popped out.
In his regular season career, Kimbrell has faced 23 total batters in the 8th or 9th inning of a game where one team leads by one or the game is tied. In those situations, he has given up 3 walks and zero hits. He has recorded 20 outs, 15 of them by strikeout.
Think about that -- close and late, batters are 0-for-20 with 15 ks. That otherworldly.
Want more? His career ERA is 0.40. Major league batters are hitting a robust .115 against him. Right-handers are especially impotent, batting .073 (3-for-41) with 25 Ks.
Of course, those numbers are inflated by a couple tough outings when he first arrived in the bigs last summer. He got sent down to the minors for a bit before getting his permanent Majors callup in August. Since that callup he has thrown 18 innings of baseball and has 37 strikeouts, 2 per inning. Batters are hitting .083 against him in that time (5-for-60).
I know he is a youngster and I know I am putting high expectations on him, but I am telling you, Kimbrell is going to be dominant this season and for a long, long time.
--Jason "wish I could take credit for the above stats, but they come from this AJC blog post" Evans