(Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
Maybe it began in the 2018 postseason, which the Red Sox won in spite of his spotty ineffectiveness. Maybe it was the awful showing once signing late with the Chicago Cubs in 2019 for then skipper Joe Maddon. Or, maybe it was the “rusty” beginning of the delayed 2020 season that led to his closer role being stripped by current manager David Ross.
Either way, at this point, Craig Kimbrel hasn’t been himself in almost three years. Now, it has been a somewhat strange journey and off-schedule trek for the right-hander over that period of time, but it seems safe to say that the dominant guy baseball fans were used to coming out of the pen and locking down saves is no more at just 32 years old.