Cole A. Kimball (born August 1, ) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Career

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Kimball moved to the Great Meadows section of

Independence Township, New Jersey Independence Township is a township in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,662, reflecting an increase of 59 (+1.1%) from the 5,603 counted in the 2000 Census, which ha ...

as a child. A graduate of

Hackettstown High School Hackettstown High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hackettstown in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the H ...

, Kimball first attended St. John's University in New York, before transferring to

Centenary College of New Jersey Centenary University is a private liberal arts university in Hackettstown, New Jersey. Founded as a preparatory school by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1867, Centenary evolved into a Junior College for women and later ...

and was selected by the Nationals in the 12th round of the 2006 amateur draft. After being drafted by Washington, Kimball began his minor-league career pitching for the

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont. From 1994 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL). They play their home games at Centennial Field, on ...

in the short-season

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. In five starts and eleven relief appearances, he pitched 34 innings, compiling a win–loss record of 1–4 and an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 5.82. Kimball remained with the Lake Monsters in 2007. He accrued a record of 3 wins and 6 losses and a 4.20 ERA over 61 innings, consisting of 13 starts and one appearance in relief. After an unimpressive 2008 season with the low A

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home ga ...

, where he compiled a 6-8 record and a 5.05 ERA he was promoted to the

Potomac Nationals The Potomac Nationals were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They were located in Woodbridge, Virginia, and played their home games at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium. After the 2019 season, the team relocated to F ...

(high A) and converted to a reliever. His woes worsened, and although he saved 9 games, his ERA was 6.36. In 2010, however, Kimball seemed to turn the corner. Starting the season at Potomac, he was 3-0 with six saves and an ERA of 1.82 before he was promoted. At AA Harrisburg, he continued to pitch well, earning 12 more saves to go with a 5-1 record and ERA of 2.33. Kimball started the 2011 season at AAA Syracuse. After 12 appearances, in which he threw 13 2/3 innings, without allowing a run, he was called up to the majors. He made his debut on May 14, pitching one scoreless inning. He made 12 appearances for the Nationals before suffering a torn

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

in July 2011. He had surgery, and missed the remainder of the 2011 season. Kimball was claimed off waivers by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

on November 16, 2011. However, the Nationals claimed him back on November 18. He missed the 2012 season as he recovered from his injury. The Nationals removed him from their 40-man roster in July 2013. Kimball signed a minor league deal with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in February 2014. He now pitches in the Blue Mountain League, a premier amateur wood bat league in PA's Lehigh Valley. Kimball plays for the Martin's Creek Creekers.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Cole 1985 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from New Jersey Camden Riversharks players Centenary Cyclones baseball players Gulf Coast Nationals players Hackettstown High School alumni Hagerstown Suns players Harrisburg Senators players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers People from Hackettstown, New Jersey People from Independence Township, New Jersey Potomac Nationals players Salt River Rafters players Saraperos de Saltillo players Scottsdale Scorpions players Baseball players from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Warren County, New Jersey St. John's Red Storm baseball players Syracuse Chiefs players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Vermont Lake Monsters players Washington Nationals players Centenary University alumni