Craig Kimbrel

On July 5, his 26th save matched Jonathan Papelbon's record for most saves by a rookie before the All-Star break.

On July 7, Kimbrel's 27th save of the year against the Colorado Rockies broke Papelbon's record.

He subsequently broke this record with his 41st save on August 31 with two strikeouts in a game against the Washington Nationals.

At the time, he led the majors in saves and had not given up a run in his last 34 innings.

Craig Michael Kimbrel (born May 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies.

His new record surpassed the previous record set by John Rocker in the 1998–1999 season, where it took Rocker 70 career innings to reach the 100 career strikeout mark.

While at Wallace State in 2007, Kimbrel had an 8–0 win–loss record with a 1.99 earned run average (ERA) as a freshman in 2007, serving as the team's closer and a spot starter.

The Atlanta Braves selected Kimbrel in the 33rd round of the 2007 MLB draft, but he elected to remain at Wallace State in order to improve his draft position.

In 2008, he was 9–3 with a 2.88 ERA, striking out 123 hitters in 81 innings pitched, mainly as a reliever.

He was then taken by the Braves in the third round, with the 96th overall selection, of the 2008 MLB draft.

Kimbrel got his first call-up from the Gwinnett Braves on May 15, 2010, to replace the injured Jair Jurrjens on the roster.

He was called up for the second time in his career on June 4, 2010, to replace Takashi Saito, who was placed on the 15-day DL. He earned his first major league save on September 19, 2010, against the New York Mets.

Kimbrel's record for the 2010 season was 4–0, with one save and a 0.44 ERA in innings.

He recorded 40 strikeouts and 16 walks.

In the 2010 NLDS, he was the losing pitcher in Game 3 against the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

As a rookie with the Braves in 2011, Kimbrel was named their closer, and set an MLB record for saves by a rookie, with 46.

He was awarded the National League's (NL) 2011 Rookie of the Year Award.

He led the NL in saves for four consecutive seasons (2011– 2014).

Kimbrel made the roster to start the 2011 season as the team's primary closer.

He was successful in his first four save opportunities before blowing his first career save on April 21, 2011.

On June 3, 2011, in a game versus the New York Mets, Kimbrel passed the record for most saves by a National League rookie before the All-Star break.

He is the fastest Braves pitcher to reach 100 career strikeouts, doing so in career innings.

Kimbrel was selected to the 2011 All Star Game during his first full season in the majors.

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy chose Kimbrel as a replacement for Giants pitcher Matt Cain.

On July 22, 2011, in a game versus the Cincinnati Reds, Kimbrel broke the Braves rookie record for saves in a season (31).

On August 9, 2011, in a game versus the Florida Marlins, Kimbrel tied the National League rookie record for saves in a season (36 by Todd Worrell of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1986).

He broke that record on August 17 in a game versus the San Francisco Giants.

On August 21, 2011, Kimbrel recorded his 100th strike out which coincided with his 39th save of the season and a string of innings without yielding a run.

On August 23, 2011, Kimbrel recorded his 40th save, tying the rookie save record of Neftalí Feliz.

The following night, Kimbrel surpassed Cliff Lee's mark of 34 scoreless innings with scoreless innings for the longest scoreless streak in the majors in 2011.

He was named the NL Rookie of the Month and Delivery Man of the Month for August 2011.

His scoreless inning streak came to an end after innings, on September 9, 2011.

He recorded his 200th save in June 2015 with the Padres, and his 300th save in May 2018 with the Red Sox, making him the youngest pitcher in MLB history to reach the milestone.

On May 26, 2023, Kimbrel became the eighth major-league pitcher to achieve 400 career saves.

Craig is the son of Mike and Sandy Kimbrel.

He attended Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama, where he played baseball and was a quarterback for the football team.

In baseball, Kimbrel was a teammate of Buddy Boshers.

Kimbrel attended Wallace State Community College.

He is a nine-time All-Star, two-time Reliever of the Year, and a 2018 World Series champion.