Atlanta Braves fans are mostly in the cautiously optimistic camp when it comes to Craig Kimbrel. Obviously Kimbrel evokes a lot of nostalgia in Braves fans of a certain age, but it isn’t lost on most fans that he is about to turn 37 and is coming off arguably the worst season of his career with the Orioles. It is expected that Kimbrel will end up being a nice bullpen depth piece, but don’t tell Kimbrel that because he has his eyes set higher.
After making six strong appearances in the minors after signing with the Braves again, it is fair to say that Kimbrel could return to the big leagues any day now. When he does eventually make his debut in 2025, expect Kimbrel to be aiming to silence his skeptics.
Craig Kimbrel makes it clear he doesn’t view his Braves homecoming as a “last hurrah.” In fact, he thinks he can pitch beyond 2025.
“I’m not coming back because I think I can just do OK. I still feel like I can do great things. That’s why I’m here.” https://t.co/mHZ1BhEJB4
— Gabe Burns (@GabeBurnsAJC) May 1, 2025
Craig Kimbrel aims to be a high leverage reliever beyond 2025 in latest comments
The AJC’s Gabe Burns put together an amazing piece on Kimbrel and his road back to the Braves which you should definitely read. The piece walks you through the initial narrative around Kimbrel’s return before pivoting to the veteran reliever’s perspective on where he is in his career and how much longer he thinks he can perform at a high level.
When discussing his return to the Braves, Kimbrel acknowledged that coming back to where he started his career is a great story, but he didn’t sign to have one last ride in front of the crowd at Truist Park. “I’m not coming back here for a last hurrah or trying to have one more good year,” Kimbrel said. “I view this offseason as having a reset because I feel I can still do this. Not just this year, but for a couple more years.”
Well sign Braves fans up for that coming true. Now, Kimbrel isn’t delusional and he knows that his career is winding down. He doesn’t throw super hard anymore and has to rely on his experience to keep hitters off balance these days. However, Kimbrel does feel as though the health issues he battled last season are behind him and his body has a couple more seasons left before he hangs it up.
Kimbrel’s comments are not going to change many minds about his outlook. At the end of the day, he is still an aging reliever with declining stuff and no amount of talk is going to change that. However, Braves fans may have a larger glimmer of hope that when he does make it to the big leagues after building up his arm strength, it will more than just a novelty.
