What happened to Craig Kimbrel? Why Rays placed ex-Mets closer on injured list originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Tampa Bay Rays are having a fantastic 2026 season so far. They’re sitting atop the American League East, and they’ve been getting quality production from their pitching staff.
But those quality performances aren’t just from the typical stars; the Rays have been getting great production from some more underrated names. A great example was Craig Kimbrel, who the New York Mets cut ties with, and the Rays picked up.
He had a scoreless debut for the Rays, striking out two batters in his debut for the Rays. However, according to Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times, the Rays have placed Kimbrel on the injured list due to an unfortunate injury to his throwing wrist.
Rays’ Craig Kimbrel lands on IL with right wrist injury
“More pitching shuffling for Rays: RH Craig Kimbrel to IL with right wrist strain, RH Andrew Wantz DFA’d, LH Cam Booser called up, RH Trevor Martin called up,” Topkin reports.
The 35-20 Rays have been a great team so far this season, and Kimbrel’s debut with the team on May 26th was a good example of how they’ve found success this season from some underrated players.
However, seemingly out of nowhere, Kimbrel has been placed on the injured list just five days after his successful Rays debut.
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There wasn’t any indication he was hurt, but now, he’s headed to the IL and will miss some time due to a right wrist issue.
The 17-year MLB veteran, on his 12th team in his big league career, is going to miss time due to this injury, as the Rays are calling up Martin and Booser to replace Kimbrel and the DFA’d Wantz.
Kimbrel looked like a good signing for the Rays after his strong debut, but they’re going to have to wait a few weeks until they can see the potential future Hall of Famer back on the mound for Tampa Bay.
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