Craig Kimbrel has been getting some more run in the eighth inning lately, and that may be something fans could get used to seeing.
The Boston Red Sox closer historically has been seldom used in any inning other than the ninth, but that has changed of late, as evidenced by three of Kimbrel’s last nine appearances beginning in the eighth frame.
So could we see more of that as the Red Sox hit the home stretch? Kimbrel indicated to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford that both he and manager Alex Cora have discussed it.
“We had to answer a lot of questions about it when I was going to pitch the eighth, when am I not. But we’re at the point now where this is the time we talked about (doing) it,” Kimbrel said. “As the season along these are the times we talked about getting more in the eighth.
“If I was always coming in the eighth inning in April, May, June and July, doing it all year long, it would be a long year,” Kimbrel added. “I think what we’ve been able to do is do it here and there and as the season progresses those opportunities will start to increase. We’ve seen over the last two weeks I’ve come in the eighth inning a lot more.”
Even though Kimbrel has become a touch more of an eighth-inning fixture, don’t expect him to become strictly a four-out guy.
“There’s no way I could do it every single day, or two out of three days. I don’t think I can do that. But to come in the eighth inning, get an out and come in the next day as we’ve done, it seems like it works out pretty good.”
The flamethrower has been plenty dominant this season, and there’s no reason Cora shouldn’t call on him so long as they’re on the same page and he’s not getting utilized in that role too often.
