Kimbrel progressing quickly, could rejoin Red Sox next week

The Boston Red Sox expect All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel back much sooner than anticipated.

Kimbrel underwent surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee July 11 and was handed a three-to-six week timeline for recovery, with a mid-August return appearing realistic.

The right-hander completed a 25-pitch mound session on Monday without any setbacks and is pencilled in for a bullpen session on Wednesday. If he continues to progress, Kimbrel will likely move on to a minor-league game Saturday and should everything go to plan, manager John Farrell said Kimbrel could rejoin the team as soon as next week.

"Good bullpen," Farrell told reporters. "He felt good about it. He was aggressive for the 25 pitches he threw. Both his fastball and his curveball. It didn't look like to the naked eye that he was favoring anything."

The Red Sox bullpen could certainly use the help. After Kimbrel landed on the disabled list, interim closer Koji Uehara joined him on the DL with a pectoral strain and is sidelined indefinitely. Recently acquired reliever Brad Ziegler has filled into the role admirably, having tossed six scoreless innings since landing in Boston.

Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski acknowledged Monday that the encouraging news surrounding Kimbrel leads him to think they might not need to add another reliever prior to the non-waiver trade deadline.

"I think our bullpen will be fine," Dombrowski told reporters. "Kimbrel, they tell me threw the ball very well today. I wouldn't be surprised if he joined us relatively soon. He's definitely looking like the short end of three three-to-six weeks."