Craig Kimbrel Joining Iowa Cubs, Set to Make First Appearance Tuesday

Mark Tuesday afternoon in your calendars, Cubs fans. Craig Kimbrel is en route to join the Iowa Cubs in Sacramento and he will be making his first appearance on Tuesday when Iowa takes on the Sacramento River Cats at 2:05 CT.

Craig Kimbrel is scheduled to leave the Cubs’ complex in Arizona, join the Triple-A Iowa club and make his first appearance on Tuesday in Sacramento.

— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) June 16, 2019

Kimbrel had been at the Cubs complex in Mesa all week throwing bullpens and live batting practice. Arizona Phil over at The Cub Reporter provided some insight into what Kimbrel’s sessions looked like, but the most important thing is that the Cubs and Kimbrel himself felt good about them.

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1139705170953035776

We don’t have an exact number of appearances to expect from Kimbrel with the I-Cubs, but it’s expected to be five or so with at least one set of back-to-back outings. Given the late signing and lack of a real spring training, the Cubs are content to give their new closer all the time he needs to ensure he is healthy and ready to perform at the highest level as deep into the 2019 season as the Cubs find themselves.