Batters when they see Kimbrel warming up

The Red Sox have been inconsistent at best this season, but when they’ve played good baseball (like their current 4 game win streak) they’ve usually included high doses of Craig Kimbrel. Here are his stats at a glance:

20 games/20.2 innings pitched 2-0 record 12 saves 6 hits 2 earned runs 2 walks 40 strikeouts 0.87ERA

That 40/2 strikeout to walk ratio is OK I guess, and the 40 K’s in 20.2 innings equals a ridiculous 17.42 K’s per 9 innings. He struck out 4 guys in an inning of work last night! The deeper you dig into Kimbrel’s stats, the more impressive they become. Right handed batters are 0-38 against Kimbrel on the season. A quick Twitter search of Kimbrel’s name reveals some truly amazing recent stats as well:

Craig Kimbrel has struck out 40 of 72 this season, 20 of the last 30. Has retired 32 of the last 34 batters he has faced. 0.87 ERA.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) May 26, 2017

Over his last 8 appearances, Craig Kimbrel has faced 27 batters and struck out 19 of them. That’s 70.4%. The man is a sicko.

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) May 26, 2017

With John Farrell finally switching up the lineup, the dominance of Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel and the hopeful reemergence of David Price, this could be a really fun summer for Red Sox fans.

-Ryan