Craig Kimbrel has been playing with fire in these playoffs, and sooner or later he’s going to set Boston’s World Series hopes ablaze.
Fans of the Boston Red Sox knew that the team’s bullpen would be a major cause for concern in the 2018 postseason. What we didn’t expect, however, was that the biggest problem coming out of the ‘pen would be the team’s normally dominant closer.
Throughout much of the regular season, minus a few blips here and there, Craig Kimbrel was about as automatic of a closer as you could find anywhere in Major League Baseball. His bizarre pitching stance, his bright red beard, and his triple-digit fastballs captivated Red Sox fans and made us feel like if they could hold a lead into the ninth inning, then a victory was automatically in the bag.
But that has not been the case in October. Kimbrel has made three appearances in the playoffs (twice against the Yankees, once against the Astros), each time in a save situation, and he has gotten lit up every single time, seemingly unable to find the strike zone to save his life. But what makes it even stranger is that he still technically hasn’t blown a save yet.
He closed out Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees, but not before giving up a solo homer to Aaron Judge to make it a one-run ballgame. In Game 4 of that series, with a three-run lead and needing just three outs to end New York’s season, Kimbrel did everything he could to give the game away. He hit a batter with the bases loaded to walk in a run, nearly gave up a walk-off grand slam to Gary Sanchez (which turned into an RBI sac fly on the warning track), and then finally ended the series on a grounder to third that wound up being a very close play at first base.
In the ALCS against Houston, Kimbrel picked up the save in Game 2, but only after he allowed Jose Altuve to drill an RBI single off of the Green Monster. That makes Kimbrel a perfect 3-for-3 in save situations this October, but my goodness, they were the absolute ugliest saves you will ever see in your life.
If it wasn’t obvious, the Red Sox and their fans should be long past the point of panicking about Kimbrel. He has yet to turn in even one decent outing in this postseason. So far, he’s been able to miraculously dance his way out of danger, but he’s only going to be able to keep that up for so long.
Kimbrel has been playing with fire this entire postseason, and now the Red Sox are facing the most loaded team in baseball. Sooner or later, he’s going to get burned and it might just be fatal for Boston’s season.
So the answer is yes. Red Sox fans should be quaking with fear every time Kimbrel comes jogging in from that bullpen.
Press that panic button, and press it now.