hand it over

Craig Kimbrel ought to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. He preserved a 1-0 win for Atlanta over New York on Saturday by striking out the side in the ninth. (The win became that much larger when Philadelphia, behind Holmes Community College product Roy Oswalt, beat wild card challenger St. Louis later in the day; the Braves now lead the Cards by 4 1/2 games.) Kimbrel, the Mississippi Braves’ closer at the end of 2009, has four wins and 45 saves, meaning he has contributed to 49 of Atlanta’s 87 victories. That’s huge impact. Kimbrel’s ERA is 1.71, and he has 123 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings. That’s dominant stuff. He deserves the rookie honor over teammate Freddie Freeman, the former M-Braves first baseman who has had his moments but not enough lately.