Kimbrel made his regular-season debut for Boston on Tuesday, striking out two and walking one in a non-save situation.
We got to see Boston's optimal late-game relief plan play out Tuesday, with Junichi Tazawa (two strikeouts) in the seventh, Koji Uehara (one strikeout) in the eighth, and its new closer in the ninth. If Tazawa and Uehara can pitch as they did Tuesday, Kimbrel will be in line for many saves in 2016. The question remains if Boston has enough starting pitching beyond ace David Price to put manager John Farrell in a position to optimally deploy the bullpen.