Drafts and minor leagues The
Atlanta Braves selected Kimbrel in the 33rd round of the
2007 MLB draft, but he elected to remain at Wallace State in order to improve his draft position. He was then taken by the Braves in the third round, with the 96th overall selection, of the
2008 MLB draft.
Atlanta Braves (2010–2014) 2010 Kimbrel got his first call-up from the
Gwinnett Braves on May 15, 2010, to replace the injured
Jair Jurrjens on the roster. He was called up for the second time in his career on June 4, 2010, to replace
Takashi Saito, who was placed on the 15-day DL. He earned his first major league save on September 19, 2010, against the
New York Mets. Kimbrel's record for the
2010 season was 4–0, with one save and a 0.44 ERA in innings. He recorded 40 strikeouts and 16
walks.
2011: Rookie of the Year Kimbrel made the roster to start the 2011 season as the team's primary
closer. He was successful in his first four save opportunities before blowing his first career save on April 21. On June 3, in a game against the
New York Mets, Kimbrel passed the record for most saves by a
National League (NL) rookie before the All-Star break. He is the fastest Braves pitcher to reach 100 career strikeouts, doing so in career innings, surpassing the previous record set by
John Rocker, who needed 70 innings to reach 100 strikeouts. On July 5, Kimbrel' 26th save matched
Jonathan Papelbon's MLB record for most saves by a rookie before the All-Star break. On July 7, Kimbrel's 27th save of the year against the
Colorado Rockies broke Papelbon's record. Kimbrel was selected to the
All Star Game as a rookie. San Francisco manager
Bruce Bochy chose Kimbrel as a replacement for pitcher
Matt Cain. On July 22, in a game versus the
Cincinnati Reds, Kimbrel broke the Braves rookie record for saves in a season (31). On August 9, in a game versus the
Florida Marlins, Kimbrel tied the NL rookie record for saves in a season (36 by
Todd Worrell of the
St. Louis Cardinals in 1986). He broke that record on August 17 in a game versus San Francisco. On August 21, Kimbrel recorded his 100th strike out, his 39th save of the season, and a streak of innings without yielding a run. On August 23, Kimbrel recorded his 40th save, tying the rookie save record of
Neftalí Feliz. Kimbrel broke this record on August 31 with two strikeouts in a game against the
Washington Nationals. At the time, he led the majors in saves and had not given up a run in his last 34 innings. The following night, Kimbrel surpassed
Cliff Lee's mark of 34 scoreless innings with scoreless innings for the longest scoreless streak in the majors in 2011. He was named the
NL Rookie of the Month and
Delivery Man of the Month for August. His scoreless inning streak came to an end after innings, on September 9. The Braves' season ended when Kimbrel
blew a save against the
Philadelphia Phillies in the last game of the season. The loss knocked Atlanta out of playoff contention, completing a historic
late-season collapse that squandered an early September lead of games in the
NL Wild Card race. Kimbrel's mediocre September (4.76 ERA) led to charges that manager
Fredi González had overworked him during the season. Kimbrel ended the season tied for the NL lead with 46 saves and led major league relievers with 127 strikeouts in 77 innings. On November 14, the
Baseball Writers' Association of America announced the results of their NL
Rookie of the Year vote; Kimbrel received all 32 first-place ballots—the first unanimous selection since 2001 winner
Albert Pujols. Teammate
Freddie Freeman finished second in the voting with 21 second-place votes and seven third-place votes, for a total of 70 points—making the pair the first teammates to take the top two spots since 1989, when the
Chicago Cubs'
Jerome Walton and
Dwight Smith came in first and second. The only other time two Braves had finished in the top five, the organization was located in
Milwaukee—
Gene Conley was voted third-best rookie of the 1954 season;
Hank Aaron came in fourth.
2012 Kimbrel again made the
All-Star team in 2012. He struck out the two batters he faced. He won the Delivery Man of the Month Award for September. On September 26, he
struck out four batters in the ninth inning. Kimbrel was thoroughly dominant throughout the 2012 season. He led the NL with 42 saves (in 45 opportunities) and
Win Probability Added among pitchers. He struck out 116 batters in innings, producing a
K/9 rate of 16.7. In so doing, he also became the first pitcher in history to strike out at least half the batters he faced during a season. He also went to an 0–2 count on 56% of the batters he faced. Kimbrel finished fifth in the NL
Cy Young Award voting and eighth in NL
MVP voting.
2013 Kimbrel began the 2013 season with three
blown saves during his first nine save opportunities, tying his personal record for blown saves during the entire 2012 season. Nonetheless, on May 9, in a game against San Francisco, Kimbrel earned his 100th save, making him the second -oungest player in MLB history to reach that mark. With a save against the Cardinals on July 27, he became only the second Atlanta pitcher after
John Smoltz to have three 30-save seasons. Kimbrel surpassed Smoltz's Braves record of 27 consecutive saves on August 17. On September 27, Kimbrel recorded his 50th save of the season in a game against the
Philadelphia Phillies. In doing so, he became the 11th pitcher in MLB history to have a 50-save season. He won the
Delivery Man of the Year Award (across all of MLB) and also was voted the
"GIBBY Awards" Closer of the Year – by the fans, media, team front-office personnel, former players, and
SABR.
2014 On February 16, 2014, Kimbrel agreed to a four-year, $42 million extension with the Braves that ran through 2017, with an option for 2018. On April 2, Kimbrel tied
Gene Garber's 141 saves with the Braves, good for second in franchise history. Two days later, on April 4, Kimbrel recorded his 142nd career save, to move into sole possession of second place. On April 25, Kimbrel became the fastest pitcher ever to reach 400 strikeouts—reaching the mark in 236 innings' worth of work. On June 6, Kimbrel recorded his 155th save in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, surpassing
John Smoltz as the new franchise leader in saves. On August 29, Kimbrel recorded his 40th save of the season. He became the third pitcher to reach that single-season milestone in four straight seasons. Kimbrel finished the season with a 1.61 ERA and 95 strikeouts in innings.
San Diego Padres (2015) . On April 5, 2015, Kimbrel was traded to the
San Diego Padres along with outfielder
B. J. Upton, in exchange for
Carlos Quentin,
Cameron Maybin, prospects
Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck, and the 41st overall pick in the
2015 MLB draft. On June 8, Kimbrel recorded his 200th career save against his former team, the Braves. He became the fastest pitcher ever to reach that milestone, taking only 318 games to do so. In his one season with the Padres, Kimbrel made 61 appearances, finishing 53 games while recording 39 saves; he struck out 87 while walking 22 in innings pitched with a 2.58 ERA.
2016 On July 8, 2016, Kimbrel injured his knee while taking warmups. The next day, an
MRI revealed that there was a tear in the
medial meniscus of the left knee. The injury required surgery, and three to six weeks to recover. He returned to the bullpen from the
injured list (IL) at the start of August. Kimbrel was named to the
All-Star Game, which he missed due to the injury. For the
2016 Red Sox, Kimbrel made 57 regular season appearances, finishing 47 games while recording 31 saves. In 53 innings pitched, he had a 3.40 ERA while striking out 83 and walking 30. Two weeks later, Kimbrel recorded a second four-strikeout inning while facing the
Texas Rangers. Kimbrel was subsequently named American League (AL)
Reliever of the Month for May. For the
2017 Red Sox, Kimbrel made 67 regular season appearances, finishing 51 games while recording 35 saves. In 69 innings pitched, he had a 1.43 ERA while striking out 126 and walking 14. Of all MLB pitchers, he held right-handed batters to the lowest batting average, .108 (in 30 or more innings). In the
2017 ALDS, Kimbrel made two one-inning appearances; he faced a total of 12 batters, giving up four hits, one walk, and one run while recording two strikeouts, as the Red Sox lost to the eventual
World Series champions
Houston Astros. On July 8, Kimbrel recorded his 27th save of the season and was named to the
All-Star Game. For the 2018 regular season, Kimbrel recorded 42 saves in 63 appearances, pitching to a 2.74 ERA with 96 strikeouts in innings. On November 12, Kimbrel declined Boston's one-year, $17.9 million qualifying offer, thus becoming a
free agent. Kimbrel did not sign with any teams during the off-season, remaining a free agent into the 2019 season.
Chicago Cubs (2019–2021) On June 7, 2019, Kimbrel signed with the
Chicago Cubs on a three-year, $43 million contract. On June 27, he was added to the Cubs' major league roster from the Triple-A
Iowa Cubs and recorded his first save of the season, against Atlanta. On August 5, he was placed on IL for a knee inflammation. On August 18, 2019, he was reactivated from the IL to help the Cubs beleaguered bullpen. He finished the year 0–4 with 13 saves and a 6.53 ERA in 23 games. On June 24, Kimbrel pitched a combined
no-hitter against the Dodgers along with
Zach Davies,
Ryan Tepera, and
Andrew Chafin.
Chicago White Sox (2021) On July 30, 2021, the Cubs traded Kimbrel to the
Chicago White Sox for
Nick Madrigal and
Codi Heuer. Out of the closer role, Kimbrel had a 5.09 ERA in 24 regular season games and a 9.00 ERA in three playoff games for the White Sox. On November 22, the White Sox exercised his $16 million option for the 2022 season.
Los Angeles Dodgers (2022) On April 1, 2022, the White Sox traded Kimbrel to the
Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for
A. J. Pollock. He pitched in 63 games for the Dodgers and finished with a 6–7 record, 3.75 ERA and 22 saves. He did not pitch for the Dodgers in the playoffs. He recorded his 400th career save on May 26, 2023, against Atlanta. In June, he pitched 13 innings in as many appearances, allowing only 1 run on 6 hits with 21 strikeouts and 5 saves, good for a 0.69 ERA, earning him NL Reliever of the Month honors. In the
NL Championship Series, Kimbrel was the losing pitcher in Games 3 and 4. In Game 3, he gave up a
walk-off single to
Ketel Marte in the bottom of the ninth inning. In Game 4, he blew a two-run lead in the 8th inning and gave up three runs, including a two-run home run to
Alek Thomas. He became the first Phillies pitcher to lose back-to-back appearances in the playoffs since
Mitch Williams in the
1993 World Series. Kimbrel became a free agent after the season.
Baltimore Orioles (2024) On December 6, 2023, the
Baltimore Orioles signed Kimbrel on a one-year, $13 million deal with a club option for the 2025 season. He made 57 appearances for Baltimore in 2024, compiling a 7–5 record and 5.33 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 23 saves. Kimbrel was
designated for assignment on September 18, a day after he allowed six runs in the ninth inning against San Francisco. He was released by the Orioles on September 24.
Atlanta Braves (2025) On March 19, 2025, Kimbrel signed a minor league contract to return to the
Atlanta Braves organization. In 18 appearances split between the Double-A
Columbus Clingstones and Triple-A
Gwinnett Stripers, he had a 1–1 record and 2.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts and three saves over 18 innings pitched. On June 6, the Braves selected Kimbrel's contract, adding him to their active roster. He pitched the seventh inning of that night's game against San Francisco. The next day, Kimbrel was designated for assignment. He elected free agency on June 9.
Texas Rangers (2025) On June 10, 2025, Kimbrel signed a minor league contract with the
Texas Rangers. In 24 appearances for the Triple-A
Round Rock Express, he tallied an 0–1 record and 3.86 ERA with 28 strikeouts and five saves over 21 innings of work. Kimbrel was released by the Rangers organization on August 21.
Houston Astros (2025) On August 22, 2025, Kimbrel signed a major league contract with the
Houston Astros. He appeared in 13 games with Astros, going 0–1 with a 2.45 ERA with 16 strikeouts over 11 innings of work. He did not record a save, as the Astros used
Josh Hader and
Bryan Abreu as closers in 2025.
New York Mets (2026–present) On January 24, 2026, Kimbrel signed a minor league contract with the
New York Mets. On March 22, the Mets announced that Kimbrel would not be on the opening day roster, and that he would be assigned to the Triple-A
Syracuse Mets to begin the year. On April 11, New York selected Kimbrel's contract, adding him to their active roster. ==International career==