Craig Kimbrel
P | Bats/Throws: R/R | 6' 0" 215LBS | Age: 35
Draft: 2008 | Rd: 3, #96, Atlanta Braves | Wallace State CC
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2021 4 5 2.26 63 0 24 59.2 100 0.91
2022 6 7 3.75 63 0 22 60 72 1.32
2023 8 6 3.31 70 0 23 68 91 1.06
14 Seasons 49 42 2.40 779 0 417 756.1 1,189 0.99
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2021 63 4-5 2.26 59.2 100 0.91
2022 63 6-7 3.75 60 72 1.32
2023 70 8-6 3.31 68 91 1.06
14 Seasons 779 49-42 2.40 756.1 1,189 0.99
MLB Percentile Rankings
Pitch Distribution

Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls
Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity
Max EV Launch
Angle
Sweet
Spot %
XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2015 27 1008 129 6 4.7 2.5 87.3 110.4 10.0 31.8 .164 .258 .254 .232 .317 26.4 36.4 9.2 2.58 2.18
2016 28 935 103 6 5.8 2.7 89.9 111.4 20.9 35.9 .168 .309 .252 .278 .370 33.0 37.7 13.6 3.40 3.21
2017 29 1148 110 13 11.8 5.1 92.0 112.1 18.3 31.8 .163 .319 .199 .236 .432 45.5 49.6 5.5 1.44 2.35
2018 30 1111 118 11 9.3 4.5 89.1 117.0 22.3 35.6 .172 .295 .255 .265 .361 33.1 38.9 12.6 2.74 2.92
2019 31 392 52 10 19.2 10.4 92.6 115.3 15.6 48.1 .261 .568 .410 .390 .535 47.1 31.3 12.5 6.53 7.18
2020 32 300 27 5 18.5 7.2 91.1 105.6 15.3 55.6 .195 .387 .312 .332 .497 51.9 40.6 17.4 5.28 4.73
2021 33 1008 109 7 6.4 3.0 90.5 114.3 19.7 41.3 .158 .268 .230 .236 .349 39.8 42.6 9.8 2.26 2.32
2022 34 1077 155 14 9.0 5.4 90.7 110.7 16.0 29.7 .205 .349 .301 .291 .347 43.9 27.7 10.8 3.75 3.49
2023 35 1107 152 16 10.5 5.8 90.1 110.2 18.3 40.1 .193 .338 .272 .284 .370 46.7 33.1 10.2 3.31 3.33
Player 8086 955 88 9.2 4.6 90.1 117.0 17.6 36.3 .180 .322 .263 .270 .376 39.6 37.6 10.6
MLB 6.9 4.7 88.4 122.4 12.2 33.1 .245 .405 .316 .315 .369 36.3 22.1 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

Kimbrel relies on 2 pitches.
4-Seam Fastball
(66.9%) ,
Curveball
(33.1%) ,


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Pitch Tracking



Batted Ball Profile

Season GB % FB % LD % PU % Pull % Straight % Oppo % Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel % Barrel/PA
2015 46.5 14.0 31.0 8.5 34.9 35.7 29.5 3.1 34.9 26.4 19.4 3.9 4.7 2.5
2016 31.1 33.0 24.3 11.7 39.8 30.1 30.1 4.9 23.3 33.0 21.4 7.8 5.8 2.7
2017 37.3 32.7 21.8 8.2 28.2 37.3 34.5 1.8 25.5 29.1 22.7 8.2 11.8 5.1
2018 29.7 27.1 30.5 12.7 22.0 36.4 41.5 3.4 25.4 34.7 19.5 7.6 9.3 4.5
2019 28.8 32.7 34.6 3.8 30.8 42.3 26.9 0.0 21.2 30.8 21.2 5.8 19.2 10.4
2020 33.3 25.9 33.3 7.4 33.3 33.3 33.3 3.7 18.5 25.9 33.3 0.0 18.5 7.2
2021 30.3 33.9 27.5 8.3 28.4 37.6 33.9 2.8 19.3 35.8 21.1 13.8 6.4 3.0
2022 41.3 31.0 18.7 9.0 34.8 38.1 27.1 5.8 28.4 27.1 20.6 9.0 9.0 5.4
2023 34.2 32.2 27.6 5.9 31.6 31.6 36.8 1.3 27.0 31.6 21.1 8.6 10.5 5.8
Player 35.7 29.1 26.5 8.7 31.5 35.6 32.9 3.1 26.1 30.7 21.2 8.0 9.2 4.6
MLB 44.7 23.4 24.9 7.0 37.0 37.6 25.3 3.9 32.8 24.7 24.4 5.8 6.9 4.7
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement


How this works: Every pitch is affected by the forces of gravity, which means that every pitch drops on its way from the mound to the plate. These numbers are reported with gravity, which makes them larger and different than other pitch movement numbers you may have seen. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren’t ‘better’ just because they have more time to move, the movement of a pitch is compared to ‘average’ movement by comparing it to other MLB pitch types within +/- 2 MPH and from within +/- 0.5 feet of extension and release.
Vertical Movement (inches) Horizontal Movement (inches)
Year Pitch Team Hand # MPH Inches of Drop vs Avg % vs Avg Inches of Break vs Avg % Break vs Avg
2023 4-Seamer PHI R 741 95.8 14.7 1.1 7 10.5 1.1 12
2023 Curveball PHI R 365 86.1 45.9 2.3 5 10.0 -0.2 -2
2022 Curveball LAD R 339 85.7 44.0 0.4 1 10.2 -1.1 -10
2022 4-Seamer LAD R 738 95.8 15.4 0.9 6 10.4 0.8 9
2021 4-Seamer CWS R 585 96.5 14.8 1.1 7 10.3 0.6 6
2021 Curveball CWS R 401 86.1 42.6 -0.8 -2 10.4 -0.4 -4
2020 4-Seamer CHC R 187 96.9 15.0 0.5 3 10.7 0.5 5
2020 Curveball CHC R 113 86.0 43.7 -0.2 0 11.0 0.4 4
2019 4-Seamer CHC R 251 96.2 14.9 0.7 5 10.2 1.2 13
2019 Curveball CHC R 126 85.9 45.7 1.1 3 8.7 0.6 7
2018 Changeup BOS R 1 91.3 30.9 3.4 12 13.6 -0.2 -2
2018 Curveball BOS R 391 86.6 45.0 1.5 3 10.5 1.0 11
2018 4-Seamer BOS R 718 97.1 13.6 1.4 9 9.3 0.3 4
2017 4-Seamer BOS R 783 98.3 12.7 0.7 5 11.7 0.6 5
2017 Curveball BOS R 360 87.3 45.6 3.0 7 8.9 1.0 13
2017 Sinker BOS R 3 98.0 21.2 3.6 20 17.5 1.5 10
2016 Sinker BOS R 2 98.4 9.2 -8.7 -48 13.7 -2.2 -14
2016 4-Seamer BOS R 629 98.0 11.3 1.7 13 8.2 -0.6 -6
2016 Curveball BOS R 289 87.2 44.7 0.9 2 11.9 -0.2 -2
2015 Slider SD R 25 92.5 -- -- 5.2 4.6 811
2015 Sinker SD R 12 98.2 -- -- 7.3 -8.1 -53
2015 4-Seamer SD R 639 98.0 -- -- 7.7 -1.4 -15
2015 Curveball SD R 275 87.3 -- -- 11.9 0.5 4
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
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Run Values by Pitch Type

Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit %
2023 4-Seamer 1.3 9 741 66.9 187 .189 .352 .292 29.7 33.7 25.9 .188 .348 .299 48.0
2023 Curveball 1.1 4 366 33.1 86 .175 .325 .256 38.7 31.4 23.5 .204 .323 .264 44.4
2022 4-Seamer 0.2 1 738 68.5 170 .259 .408 .340 23.4 25.3 18.5 .199 .345 .294 44.8
2022 Curveball -0.1 -1 339 31.5 88 .167 .244 .257 43.6 33.0 24.8 .215 .355 .296 42.0
2021 4-Seamer 0.9 6 585 58.0 144 .180 .385 .293 33.2 36.8 27.5 .177 .335 .279 48.6
2021 Curveball 3.1 13 401 39.8 86 .111 .111 .151 59.3 52.3 33.6 .134 .173 .182 22.2
2020 4-Seamer -0.7 -1 187 62.3 41 .206 .471 .352 30.5 34.1 23.7 .217 .502 .366 60.0
2020 Curveball 1.0 1 113 37.7 27 .143 .143 .256 48.4 51.9 35.0 .160 .201 .278 28.6
2019 4-Seamer -1.0 -3 251 64.0 57 .326 .783 .510 24.8 19.3 19.6 .342 .776 .493 52.8
2019 Curveball -1.4 -2 126 32.1 35 .156 .406 .271 50.0 48.6 32.1 .159 .306 .238 33.3
2018 4-Seamer 0.5 4 718 64.6 179 .171 .388 .301 33.3 35.2 23.5 .183 .340 .291 38.9
2018 Curveball 2.6 10 391 35.2 68 .082 .098 .143 55.6 48.5 28.4 .145 .181 .200 14.3
2018 Changeup 3.6 0 1 0.1 -- -- -- 100.0 -- -- -- -- -- --
2017 4-Seamer 2.9 23 783 68.2 190 .131 .251 .206 39.3 48.4 28.0 .161 .343 .245 47.6
2017 Curveball 0.8 3 360 31.4 61 .158 .211 .249 55.3 54.1 37.5 .160 .243 .229 41.7
2017 Sinker -5.7 0 3 0.3 2 .500 .500 .450 0.0 0.0 0.0 .485 .510 .437 0.0
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.
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Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2023 4-Seam Fastball 741 95.8 93 18.2 1:15 1:15 0
2023 Knuckle Curve 366 86.1 66 15.4 8:00 7:30 30
2022 4-Seam Fastball 737 95.8 93 17.6 1:30 1:15 15
2022 Knuckle Curve 339 85.7 62 14.3 8:00 7:45 15
2021 4-Seam Fastball 584 96.5 93 17.7 1:30 1:15 15
2021 Knuckle Curve 400 86.1 62 13.5 8:00 7:45 15
2020 4-Seam Fastball 180 96.9 94 17.5 1:30 1:15 15
2020 Knuckle Curve 109 86.0 68 14.5 8:00 7:45 15
! Note: This table is showing data from the PITCHER perspective.
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Swing/Take

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2010 100 446 7 8 -4 -2 10
2011 304 1,305 14 12 -4 -2 19
2012 230 930 14 13 2 -3 27
2013 261 1,056 16 12 -5 -1 22
2014 243 1,047 7 14 -4 -3 14
2015 238 1,004 8 9 -5 -3 8
2016 224 953 15 3 -6 -5 6
2017 265 1,200 12 19 -2 -4 24
2018 297 1,304 5 16 -4 -5 12
2019 92 377 -5 4 -3 -1 -4
2020 73 327 5 1 -3 -2 1
2021 241 1,033 7 16 -5 -2 15
2022 258 1,077 14 0 -8 -6 1
2023 273 1,107 6 15 -4 -4 13
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Plate Discipline

Season Pitches Zone % Zone Swing % Zone Contact % Chase % Chase Contact % Edge % 1st Pitch Strike % Swing % Whiff % Meatball % Meatball Swing %
2015 1,008 49.2 67.3 72.5 25.4 38.5 39.4 61.1 46.0 36.6 8.3 76.2
2016 935 46.0 62.3 75.7 29.1 44.9 41.9 68.2 44.4 34.9 7.2 82.1
2017 1,148 51.0 62.2 66.4 34.9 40.8 45.2 63.8 48.8 42.7 7.8 69.7
2018 1,111 43.2 64.8 74.3 31.9 37.8 43.1 56.3 46.1 40.0 6.5 76.4
2019 392 42.2 73.0 79.3 28.0 44.3 40.6 56.3 47.7 32.6 7.4 82.1
2020 300 46.7 55.7 71.8 21.9 48.6 37.7 58.0 37.7 35.4 6.0 83.3
2021 1,008 45.1 63.1 70.1 31.1 34.5 40.4 63.2 45.6 43.7 6.4 68.3
2022 1,077 50.2 64.3 79.6 25.7 48.6 43.4 63.6 45.1 29.2 7.6 76.8
2023 1,107 52.7 62.9 74.7 29.0 47.4 41.1 62.8 47.0 32.5 9.6 72.0
Player 8,086 48.0 63.9 73.5 29.3 41.8 41.9 62.1 46.0 36.9 7.6 74.9
MLB 48.6 67.0 82.0 28.5 58.0 42.6 60.9 47.1 24.8 7.3 76.1
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Percentile Rankings

Year xwOBA /
xERA
xBA xSLG xISO xOBP Brl Brl% EV Hard
Hit%
K% BB% Whiff% Chase
Rate
FB
Velo
FB
Spin
CB
Spin
Extension
2015 99 99 99 93 97 85 60 73 95 99 18 99 10 98 97 83 75
2016 84 99 93 61 72 91 54 12 63 99 1 97 51 99 95 67 78
2017 99 100 89 52 99 54 1 1 1 100 92 100 96 99 91 68 73
2018 91 97 95 79 79 68 7 25 69 99 6 99 89 96 81 66 70
2019 89 67 52 70
2020 94 51 51 74
2021 98 99 97 89 97 92 71 13 38 99 29 100 80 90 68 63 73
2022 66 85 70 48 52 58 19 5 11 79 13 74 11 81 60 58 82
2023 82 95 85 65 80 54 13 21 4 97 24 89 49 80 80 66 86
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Expected Home Runs

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2016 23.1 4 3.4 1 3 4 0 0.0
2017 24.2 6 8.7 -3 4 6 4 66.7
2018 21.2 9 7.9 1 3 7 2 22.2
2019 24.1 9 5.8 3 3 4 2 22.2
2020 23.6 2 2.1 0 0 2 1 50.0
2021 20.7 7 5.4 2 4 7 1 14.3
2022 23.4 4 6.0 -2 3 8 0 0.0
2023 23.2 10 7.8 2 1 8 2 20.0
Player 22.8 51 47.1 4 21 46 12 23.5

Expected Home Runs by Park

Year HR
2016 4 3 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 2 4 5 2 2 4 4 2 3 3 5 2 2 5 5 3 3 4 5 2 3 2
2017 6 9 6 8 9 8 9 9 6 7 9 10 8 8 9 9 8 8 11 9 10 10 11 10 9 8 9 10 9 9 7
2018 9 11 8 7 10 9 10 7 7 4 6 10 8 7 7 8 6 7 9 9 8 10 9 10 5 5 7 9 10 10 4
2019 9 8 5 7 5 5 8 6 4 4 5 5 6 5 6 5 5 5 7 6 6 7 7 9 5 6 4 5 8 5 5
2020 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 1 1 3 1 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 3 2 2 3 1
2021 7 7 3 6 6 5 8 5 2 3 5 9 5 3 7 8 5 4 6 7 4 5 9 5 4 3 6 6 4 6 5
2022 4 5 3 8 6 5 7 7 3 4 5 7 8 5 6 8 6 6 5 6 6 6 9 10 5 4 8 8 6 5 4
2023 10 6 5 9 8 8 9 7 8 6 7 10 9 7 9 10 9 7 8 9 7 7 10 10 6 6 8 7 8 7 7
Player 51 51 35 52 51 45 58 47 37 31 42 59 47 39 51 54 43 42 51 54 45 49 63 61 38 36 49 52 49 48 35
! Note: This tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. This accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects. For these purposes, the 2020 Blue Jays home field was still Rogers Centre, not Sahlen Field.
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Year to Year Changes

Metric 2015 2016 +/-   2017 +/-   2018 +/-   2019 +/-   2020 +/-   2021 +/-   2022 +/-   2023 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 98.0 98.0 0.0 98.3 0.3 97.1 -1.2 96.2 -0.9 96.9 0.7 96.5 -0.4 95.8 -0.7 95.8 0.0
Offspeed Velocity 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 91.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Breaking Velocity 87.8 87.2 -0.6 87.3 0.1 86.6 -0.7 85.9 -0.7 86.0 0.1 86.1 0.1 85.7 -0.4 86.1 0.4
Exit Velocity 87.3 89.9 2.6 92.0 2.1 89.1 -2.9 92.6 3.5 91.1 -1.5 90.5 -0.6 90.7 0.2 90.1 -0.6
Launch Angle 10.0 20.9 10.9 18.3 -2.6 22.3 4.0 15.6 -6.7 15.3 -0.3 19.7 4.4 16.0 -3.7 18.3 2.3
Barrel % 4.7 5.8 1.1 11.8 6.0 9.3 -2.5 19.2 9.9 18.5 -0.7 6.4 -12.1 9.0 2.6 10.5 1.5
Hard Hit % 26.4 33.0 6.6 45.5 12.5 33.1 -12.4 47.1 14.0 51.9 4.8 39.8 -12.1 43.9 4.1 46.7 2.8
Sweet Spot % 31.8 35.9 4.1 31.8 -4.1 35.6 3.8 48.1 12.5 55.6 7.5 41.3 -14.3 29.7 -11.6 40.1 10.4
xBA .164 .168 0.004 .163 -0.005 .172 0.009 .261 0.089 .195 -0.066 .158 -0.037 .205 0.047 .193 -0.012
BA .185 .152 -0.033 .140 -0.012 .146 0.006 .259 0.113 .182 -0.077 .150 -0.032 .227 0.077 .183 -0.044
xwOBA .232 .278 0.046 .236 -0.042 .265 0.029 .390 0.125 .332 -0.058 .236 -0.096 .291 0.055 .284 -0.007
wOBA .254 .252 -0.002 .199 -0.053 .255 0.056 .410 0.155 .312 -0.098 .230 -0.082 .301 0.071 .272 -0.029
xSLG .258 .309 0.051 .319 0.010 .295 -0.024 .568 0.273 .387 -0.181 .268 -0.119 .349 0.081 .338 -0.011
SLG .306 .255 -0.051 .243 -0.012 .305 0.062 .654 0.349 .345 -0.309 .272 -0.073 .351 0.079 .342 -0.009
K% 36.4 37.7 1.3 49.6 11.9 38.9 -10.7 31.3 -7.6 40.6 9.3 42.6 2.0 27.7 -14.9 33.1 5.4
BB% 9.2 13.6 4.4 5.5 -8.1 12.6 7.1 12.5 -0.1 17.4 4.9 9.8 -7.6 10.8 1.0 10.2 -0.6
Swing % 46.0 44.4 -1.6 48.8 4.4 46.1 -2.7 47.7 1.6 37.7 -10.0 45.6 7.9 45.1 -0.5 47.0 1.9
Whiff% 36.6 34.9 -1.7 42.7 7.8 40.0 -2.7 32.6 -7.4 35.4 2.8 43.7 8.3 29.2 -14.5 32.5 3.3
In Zone % 49.2 46.0 -3.2 51.0 5.0 43.2 -7.8 42.2 -1.0 46.7 4.5 45.1 -1.6 50.2 5.1 52.7 2.5
Out of Zone % 50.8 54.0 3.2 49.0 -5.0 56.8 7.8 57.8 1.0 53.3 -4.5 54.9 1.6 49.8 -5.1 47.3 -2.5