Fresh off signing with the Tampa Bay Rays, Craig Kimbrel struck against his former team with a scoreless appearance. His 11th team stop keeps him marching toward a different kind of MLB record as his career shifts from saves to survival.
On the day Craig Kimbrel officially signed with the Tampa Bay Rays, he did something he didn’t have to do but couldn’t help doing anyway: he came in and threw scoreless pitching against his former team.
It wasn’t a long moment. It didn’t have to be. The details were there—May 26, the opponent was the Baltimore Orioles, and Kimbrel was facing a franchise that has already been part of his recent past. In a league where careers can pivot in a hurry, that timing landed like a statement.
Kimbrel’s Rays signing also nudged him closer to a record that doesn’t live in the stat books the way saves do. With the Rays, he became the 11th different team he has called his own. The all-time mark belongs to pitchers Rich Hill and Edwin Jackson, who each logged 14 teams. Kimbrel is now three teams away.
The arc behind that number has never been static. He was designated for assignment by the New York Mets on May 22, Team No. 10 in his unofficial tour. This season, his Mets run started with a rough ledger: 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA across 14 appearances.
In his career. Kimbrel has pitched for the Atlanta Braves (2010-14). the San Diego Padres (2015). the Boston Red Sox (2016-18). the Chicago Cubs (2019-21). the Chicago White Sox (2021). the Los Angeles Dodgers (2022). the Philadelphia Phillies (2023). the Braves again (2025). the Houston Astros (2025). and now the Tampa Bay Rays. He also adds the Mets and Orioles as his current stop points, with the Orioles listed as 2024. On paper, it’s the kind of list that looks like a résumé. In real baseball life, it’s a constant adjustment.
Before the journeyman phase fully took over, Kimbrel’s name carried a different weight. He spent his first five seasons of his career in Atlanta, made four All-Star teams, and won the 2011 National League Rookie of the Year award. For a time, he was defined by a triple-digit fastball.
That same fastball became part of baseball’s memory. too—an infamous moment connected to a decision by then-manager Fredi Gonzalez in the 2013 NL Division Series. In Game 4. Gonzalez left Kimbrel warming up in the bullpen in the eighth inning while Dodgers veteran Juan Uribe hit the game-winning home run to clinch the series. Baseball fans still bring that up because it captured how quickly the stakes can flip. even for a pitcher built for the biggest moments.
The movement through teams accelerated when Kimbrel was traded with B.J. Upton to the San Diego Padres for five players. From there, he kept finding ways to accumulate saves.
He began his Rays career with 440 saves, fifth on MLB’s career list. His last stint as a closer came with the Orioles in 2024. Since then. his path has been less about locking down the ninth inning and more about staying in the majors—bouncing between the majors and Triple-A while trying to live off a fastball that now averages a below-average 93.6 mph. according to Statcast.
The uncomfortable reality is that the days of trying to chase Mariano Rivera’s all-time saves record are over—if they ever truly began. But Kimbrel isn’t empty-handed on the historical trail. The next all-time mark he’s chasing is the one tied to places: 14 teams in a career. shared by Rich Hill and Edwin Jackson.
The sequence is stark: one more signing changes the number, one more outing adds to the proof, and one more season tests whether the velocity can still carry him. Kimbrel’s career has always been about a fastball, but the older question now is how long it can still make a difference.
Craig Kimbrel Tampa Bay Rays Baltimore Orioles New York Mets MLB All-Star Rookie of the Year saves record Rich Hill Edwin Jackson