Boston Red Sox: Craig Kimbrel’s return could prevent a trade

Looking from the outside in, it would appear that the Boston Red Sox need bullpen help. But with the return of a couple of arms, including Craig Kimbrel, in the near future, the Sox may be able to hold off on making a move.

The Red Sox received some very good news on Monday in regards to their All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel. The hard-throwing pitcher threw 20-25 pitches off a mound just two weeks after knee surgery.

Kimbrel was placed on the DL on July 9 following a game with the Rays in which Kimbrel hurt himself shagging fly balls in the outfield.  The injury was later revealed as a torn knee meniscus and he underwent surgery two days later.

His initial timetable for return was anywhere from 3-6 weeks, but it now looks like Kimbrel could rejoin the Red Sox much sooner. He will pitch another bullpen session on Wednesday, and if all goes well he hopes to make a rehab start on Saturday.

Shortly after Kimbrel’s injury, the fill-in closer Koji Uehara injured his shoulder and was placed on the 15-day DL. At the time, Junichi Tazawa was finishing up his time on the DL, and the Red Sox opted to make Brad Ziegler their closer.

Rumors swirled around Boston that they were in trade talks for Andrew Miller, Will Smith, and Arodys Vizcaino. It looked like the Red Sox were desperate for extra help as they had three back-end arms all on the DL. 

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Fast forward just two weeks, and all is starting to look okay in Boston. If Kimbrel makes a successful rehab start on Saturday, he could rejoin the team on Monday in Seattle. Tazawa has been activated from the DL and has already pitched in a game. And Brad Ziegler has been brilliant since joining the club, allowing just one hit and no runs in six innings pitched.

President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski spoke to the media on Monday and indicated that they aren’t working on a deal for a reliever. Scott Lauber tweeted this out after an interview with him, making it clear that Dombrowski has no intention of trading for a bullpen arm.

Once Boston gets Kimbrel back, the Red Sox should be a pretty tough team to hit past the seventh inning. Tazawa has allowed hitters a mere .223 average against him as well as posting an 80.7 left-on-base percentage, which is considered an excellent rating by Fangraphs.

Brad Zeigler has been a “godsend” according to John Farrell, and could be the perfect set-up man to get to Kimbrel. Ziegler can’t get over the 87 MPH hump, so setting him up before the flamethrower Kimbrel could be a good strategy.

In addition to these guys, the Red Sox have seen promising development from both Robbie Ross Jr. and Matt Barnes. Ross is allowing lefties a .152 average, and has recorded 39 strikeouts in 35.2 IP. Barnes has given the Sox 47.1 IP this season with a 1.29 WHIP.

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The Red Sox aren’t as encouraged for Uehara’s return as his injury has been described as unusual, and there isn’t a lot of history of the injury to accurately predict a timetable. The Red Sox hope he will return before the season ends, but there’s no official date.

Dombrowski is known for making big splashes at the deadline, but he may be able to hold off this time. If all goes well with his rehab stint, expect Kimbrel back with the team by next week, and no bullpen trades in Boston.