Boston Red Sox: Craig Kimbrel named American League Reliever of the Month

Craig Kimbrel has been dominant so far in his second season with the Boston Red Sox, earning the American League Reliever of the Month honors for the month of May.

After a rough first season with the Boston Red Sox, closer Craig Kimbrel has looked more locked in than ever over the first two months of his second year. Major League Baseball has named Kimbrel the American League Reliever of the Month after a particularly impressive showing in May.

Kimbrel has saved fifteen games so far this season, which leads the league and is already about half of the 31 saves he picked up last year. The 29-year-old has also struck out 45 batters, more than half of the 83 he struck out last season and has walked only three batters over 24 innings.

In addition to his saves, Kimbrel has also picked up two wins and only given up two runs, to the tune of a 0.75 ERA and 0.375 WHIP. He is recording 16.9 strikeouts per nine innings and 15.0 strikeouts per walk.

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While he has been dominant all season, May was one of the best months of Craig Kimbrel’s career. He recorded seven saves and gave up a single hit, a single walk, and no runs over 12.2 innings. The walk on May 30th was the first he allowed since April 9th and he has not given up a run since April 20th.

Kimbrel recorded 25 strikeouts over the month, including two rarities: a four-strikeout inning and an immaculate inning, which consists of three strikeouts on only nine pitches thrown, within two weeks of each other. He has delivered two five-strikeout games this season, one in April and one in May.

Craig Kimbrel has completely dominated right-handed hitters all season, as not a single righty has been able to get a hit off of him. He has not allowed a hit to his last thirty batters overall, but right-handers are 0-for-35 with three walks and 25 strikeouts. Kimbrel’s streak of thirty straight batters faced without a hit is his longest since he was with the Atlanta Braves all the way back in 2012, when he saved 42 games and finished the season with a 1.01 ERA.

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Kimbrel’s career has been filled with accolades. He is a five-time All-Star, won the 2011 Rookie of the Year, and finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting four times. He has finished with an ERA under 2.00 four times and last season was the first time his final ERA was above 2.60. He came with a track record of dominance, yet Kimbrel finally looks even better than expected.

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Coming off a disappointing 2016, Kimbrel is a breath of fresh air for the Red Sox who must feel good with something in the ninth inning that is as close to automatic as a human being can get.