A few months ago, with Craig Kimbrel in the midst of a 15-inning scoreless streak, fellow Boston Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes took stock of the closer's excellence.
"Craig has been this good for, what, six years?" Barnes asked.
Eight, actually. But Barnes' point was well taken. Since the first time Kimbrel scaled a major league mound, on May 7, 2010, in Philadelphia, he has been pure, unadulterated nasty. With a fastball that averages 97.8 mph, a curveball that bends like a banana and a pre-pitch stance in which he holds out his arms like a bat’s wings while he leans in to read the catcher's sign, he has turned out the lights in the ninth inning for three teams, including the Red Sox for the past two seasons.