Matt Kimbrel, the younger brother of veteran MLB reliever Craig Kimbrel, died Saturday after his motorcycle collided with a dump truck in Huntsville, Alabama.
The 36-year-old was traveling at high speed on Highway 432 around 8 a.m. When he struck the rear of a dump truck that was exiting the roadway, authorities said. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Officials indicated he had been unable to slow down in time to avoid the collision. An investigation into the crash remains ongoing, though no criminal charges are anticipated.
Matt Kimbrel had followed his older sibling into professional baseball, having been drafted by the Atlanta Braves and playing in the organization’s minor league system. His death came just one month after Craig, 38, signed with the Kansas City Royals, marking the 12th franchise in a career that has spanned nearly two decades at the major league level.
Craig Kimbrel’s own path through the majors has been notably turbulent in recent seasons. The nine-time All-Star and 2018 World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox joined the New York Mets on a minor league deal this past January. He appeared in 14 games for the club before being designated for assignment in May, a brief stint that ended without him securing a permanent roster spot. His subsequent move to Kansas City represented another attempt to extend a career defined by dominant early seasons and more recent itinerant stops.
The Kimbrel brothers both entered professional baseball through the Braves organization. Craig was selected in the 33rd round of the 2007 draft and made his major league debut with Atlanta in 2010. By the following season, he had claimed the closer role and won National League Rookie of the Year honors after shattering the franchise’s rookie save record. He remained with the Braves until a 2015 trade sent him to the San Diego Padres, launching a peripatetic phase that has since included time with the Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, and now the Royals.
Matt Kimbrel is survived by his fiancée, Genevieve, whom he had proposed to in Paris with the Eiffel Tower as their backdrop. She addressed his death publicly on Saturday, hours after the fatal crash, in an online statement that conveyed both her grief and her request for privacy.
“My fiancé passed away, and right now I truly don’t have the words,” she wrote.
“I know there are people who love us and will have questions, but I’m asking for a little time and space before I’m ready to talk about what happened or say anything more.
“Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we try to process this unimaginable loss. I’ll share more when I’m ready.”
The collision that claimed Matt Kimbrel’s life occurred on a Saturday morning on a Huntsville highway, with the dump truck exiting the road as his motorcycle approached at speed. Emergency responders transported him from the scene, but medical intervention could not save him. The circumstances of the crash remain under review by local authorities.
Craig Kimbrel has not made a public statement regarding his brother’s death as of this report.