Craig Kimbrel looked sharp in Friday’s Grapefruit League appearance against the Marlins, racking up a pair of strikeouts in his scoreless frame.
The 37-year-old right-hander allowed just one baserunner in the outing — a leadoff walk to Heriberto Hernandez. He rebounded nicely though, retiring the next three hitters in order, including punchouts of Connor Norby and Maximo Acosta. Kimbrel’s velocity was still down in this one, averaging 91.9 mph (-1.6 mph) on his fastball. He’ll probably have to get that back up and string together several good outings if he’s going to crack the Mets’ Opening Day bullpen.