Boston Red Sox: Craig Kimbrel to have knee surgery

Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel will have surgery on Monday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and is expected to miss 3-6 weeks.

Late Friday night, the Boston Red Sox pulled off a trade that sent two prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks for closer Brad Ziegler. It was believed that the move was made to shore up Boston’s tattered bullpen. On Saturday, the Red Sox announced that closer Craig Kimbrel has a medial meniscus tear in his left knee and has been placed on the 15-day disabled list.

The injury occurred before Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays and Kimbrel was unavailable to pitch in the ninth inning of Boston’s 6-5 win.

Kimbrel went for an MRI and that’s when the tear was discovered. Boston manager John Farrell told reporters that both Ziegler and Koji Uehara will get save opportunities while Kimbrel is on the shelf. Kimbrel’s recovery from the surgery he’s scheduled to have on Monday is expected to take anywhere from three to six weeks.

Before the announcement about Kimbrel’s injury was made on Saturday, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the “pursuit of Ziegler did not accelerate due to concern over Tazawa.” (Red Sox reliever Junichi Tazawa was also unavailable on Friday night due to shoulder soreness.) Rosenthal added that the Red Sox wanted a different type of pitcher in their bullpen—Zeigler is a submarine pitcher—and that they also wanted to “jump the market.”

It really just seems like a matter of perfect timing for the Red Sox who just so happened to pull off a trade for a closer right as their own closer went down with an injury.

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Kimbrel, who has a 3.55 ERA and 17 saves in 34 appearances, was named to the 2016 American League All-Star team along with five of his teammates. Ziegler, who has a 2.82 ERA and 18 saves in 36 appearances, will not be available until Sunday’s game against the Rays.