There was something different about the way Craig Kimbrel came to the big leagues.
Whereas many other successful closers, from Billy Wagner and Francisco Rodriguez to Jonathan Papelbon and even the great Mariano Rivera, were starting pitchers in the minor leagues, Kimbrel never made a single start after being drafted by the Atlanta Braves. From the day he debuted at rookie-level Danville in 2008, the hard-throwing right-hander was used as a reliever and almost exclusively in the ninth inning.
"That does not happen very often," said Red Sox senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren, the Braves' general manager from the 2008 season through 2014.