Each day in March, NBC Sports Chicago is previewing one player from the Cubs’ expected 2020 Opening Day roster. Next up is closer Craig Kimbrel.
2019 recap
Quite simply, 2019 was the worst season of Kimbrel’s Hall of Fame worthy career, and by a long shot. Let’s start with the numbers:
In 23 appearances, Kimbrel went 0-4 while converting 13 of 16 save opportunities. He posted career highs in ERA (6.53), WHIP (1.60) and home runs allowed (9) — the latter coming in just 20 2/3 innings of work.
Now, some explanation.