No matter how good Craig Kimbrel is for the Iowa Cubs, he’ll need to spend a set period of time on the farm to ensure he’s ready to join the big league team. In other words, the Cubs probably won’t fast-track him, just because he’s carving up Minor League lineups. He’s simply been out of action for too long to rush back and risk blowing up everything he waited this long for in the first place. But I only say that, of course, because he just dominated the River Cats in his I-Cubs debut.
With just 8 pitches total, Kimbrel worked a 1-2-3 inning just moments ago. Here’s how the inning played out.
Batter 1: Flyout to center field (1 pitch)
Batter 2: Groundout to third base (3 pitches)
Batter 3: Swinging strikeout (4 pitches)
As you can see, Kimbrel made extremely quick work of River Cats, carving through the Triple-A team with ease, while throwing just one ball out of the strike-zone (and according to MiLB.com, it was actually a missed called-third strike).
According to multiple reports out there, Kimbrel used his fastball and curveball, with his fastball sitting at 96 MPH. His curveball earned the groundout and swinging strikeout, while his fastball got the flyout to center. All in all, you couldn’t hope for a better first outing from the Cubs closer-to-be.
Looks like the I-Cubs brought in some reliever off the street. pic.twitter.com/pq0sEuqA3d
— Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) June 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/realcubsinsider/status/1141092835757715456
Cocked arm in mid-season form. pic.twitter.com/FCn2JbXZcJ
— Michael Ernst (@mj_ernst) June 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/pitchingninja/status/1141100759448207361?s=21