Craig Kimbrel notched his 50th save of the year Friday in the Braves’ 1-0 win over the Phillies, making him the 11th different reliever to reach the milestone.
In all, there have been 13 50-save seasons, with Mariano Rivera and Eric Gagne having gotten there twice. The Orioles’ Jim Johnson could also get there for a second time this year, but he’d need to pick up saves against the Red Sox in each of the Orioles’ two remaining games.
Kimbrel also fanned two batters tonight to up his season total to 98. As we blogged last night, the Royals’ Greg Holland just notched the 14th season ever of 40 saves and 100 strikeouts. Kimbrel owns two of them and could get there for a third straight year with two more strikeouts this weekend.
Kimbrel now has 139 career saves as he wraps up his age-25 season. Only Francisco Rodriguez, with 146, had more through 25. Rivera didn’t have a one, as he was a rookie starter for the Yankees in his age-25 campaign.
