Former Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel joined an exclusive club on Friday night, becoming just the eighth pitcher in Major League Baseball history to record 400 saves.
Kimbrel, who pitched three seasons and Boston, took the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies, and similar to current Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen, who also hit No. 400 this season, Kimbrel did so by taking on his former club the Atlanta Braves — seizing a 6-4 victory at Truist Park.
The four-time National League saves leader faced four hitters in reaching the all-time milestone, prepared ahead of time by gathering a strong crew of friends and family in attendance to watch the moment live where Kimbrel’s big league career began 13 years ago.
“I’m happy it was here in Atlanta, happy I’m with family,” Kimbrel said postgame, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “The majority of my family was here to see it — getting to take it in and enjoy it with them is great. The first thing was like, ‘Whew, glad he hit that ball to third base and didn’t hit it out.’ But then it was, ‘OK, game’s over, let’s enjoy it.’”
Kimbrel’s latest career feat places him in legendary company, joining Mariano Rivera (652 saves), Trevor Hoffman (601), Lee Smith (478), Francisco Rodríguez (437), John Franco (424) and Kenley Jansen (401) as the only others to have ever reached 400 saves.
He also did so in just 730 total appearances, which made Kimbrel the third reliever ever to hit No. 400 in under 800 games — Rivera (697) and Hoffman (706) were the only others to do so in fewer relief appearances.
