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A very exciting update on Craig Kimbrel

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Chase Irle | Last updated Apr 18, 2025 9:30 AM ET

The offense is the current focal point of the Braves early season struggles, but the bullpen has been equally as abysmal. They just haven’t had many leads to protect, so their flaws are more easily overlooked. Atlanta’s relief core ranks 27th in WAR at -0.5, with an ERA of 4.18, which is good for 20th in the league. This unit needs more proven arms after losing A.J. Minter and Joe Jimenez, and the Braves are hoping Craig Kimbrel can help remedy the problem.

The nine-time All-Star was added to the Columbus Clingstones roster earlier in the week, making his season debut on Tuesday, striking out a couple of batters in a scoreless inning. Yesterday, he made his second appearance, and if I had to guess, it will be his last at the AA level.

Craig Kimbrel faced four batters on Thursday night, and he struck out all four of them.

Craig Kimbrel struck out every batter he saw
1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K pic.twitter.com/a8ojtl9qsW

— Gaurav (@gvedak) April 18, 2025

In total, Craig Kimbrel has punched out six of the eight batters he’s faced since joining the Clingstones. The stuff looks crisp, and he totaled 23 pitches last night, which is about all that is needed for a reliever to be considered stretched out.

The Braves might want to give him a look against some better competition in Gwinnett before calling him up to Atlanta, but a potential promotion to the major-league club could be in the cards as early as next week.

This article first appeared on SportsTalkATL and was syndicated with permission.

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