The Red Sox lose closer Craig Kimbrel to knee surgery

By foxsports
Published

The Boston Red Sox announced Saturday that closer Craig Kimbrel will have knee surgery.

Kimbrel, who was acquired from the San Diego Padres this past offseason, has a torn meniscus and torn cartilage in his left knee. He is expected to miss 3-6 weeks.

He suffered the injury while shagging balls during batting practice Friday.

"I was just in the outfield during BP and took a step for a ball that was a ground ball that was hit. I took a step, heard a pop and didn't think it was anything serious until I got in, evaluated it, got the MRI, saw what it was," Kimbrel said, per MLB.com. "Now, it's taking steps to get it better so I can get back out on the field."

In 34 appearances this season, he is 1-3 with a 3.55 ERA and 17 saves. He has struck out 50 batters and walked 15 in 33 innings.

Because of the injury, Kimbrel will miss next week's All-Star Game. Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez will replace him on the AL roster.

The Red Sox acquired closer Brad Ziegler from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. He will be an option to handle the ninth-inning duties, as will former closer Koji Uehara, who earned the save in Friday's win over the Tampa Bay Rays.