Red Sox's Craig Kimbrel: Will be used in non-save situations

Kimbrel will be deployed in non-save situations this season, per manager Alex Cora, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports.

Cora explained his philosophy is to use his best reliever in the most important part of the game, whether that be the seventh, eighth or ninth inning. What constitutes as the 'most important' part of the game will change from game to game, but the manager doesn't feel it will cost Kimbrel too many saves. "People think it's a big adjustment. If you start looking at the numbers you don't lose too many saves if it's the way you want to use him," Cora said. "We're not talking about the lower third of the lineup. We're talking the middle of the lineup, eighth inning, certain situations. What I feel is game-on-the-line." Kimbrel had been off-the-charts bad in non-save situations in 2016 (5.12 ERA 14 BB, 19.1 IP), but improved dramatically last season when he posted a 0.64 ERA over 28 innings when a game was not on the line.