Red Sox Closer Craig Kimbrel Would ‘Love To Stay’ With Boston

Craig Kimbrel has been an integral part of the Boston Red Sox’s 2018 success.

The closer has compiled 30 saves on the season heading into the All-Star break — the most by a Sox player since Jonathan Papelbon had 28 in 2008 — and his efforts paid off as he was named to the American League All-Star team.

Kimbrel spent the last three seasons in a Red Sox uniform and is set to become a free agent at the end of the campaign. While the hard-throwing righty is well aware of the business side of the game, he’d love to continue his career in Boston.

“I’ve loved my last three years here. The city’s provided me and my family a lot,” Kimbrel said, via MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “And we’re very grateful for that. And we’d love to stay. And we love the city. But the way the game works, we’ll see how things go when we get there.”

Kimbrel has 96 saves to date for the Sox to go along with 271 strikeouts, including 126 in 2017 alone.