Kennedy showing signs of life in PR

December 7, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 92 Comments

While one Kennedy may be gearing up to join New York’s Senate delegation, another is quietly restoring his status as a pitching prospect. Pitching for the Indios de Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League, Ian Kennedy has put together a strong of solid outings.

Yesterday, facing the Aguilas Cibaenas, Kennedy had another solid outing. He emerged the hard-luck loser in a 1-0 affair, but six innings, he allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks while striking out six. On the season, he now has 34.2 innings under his belt, and he’s allowed 12 walks and 19 hits while striking out 31. While the Caribbean winter leagues are a far cry from MLB hitters, Kennedy is throwing strikes with confidence.

Now, the Yankees won’t just hand Ian Kennedy a job come March, but he’ll very much be in the mix. He turns 24 later this month, and there’s no reason why he can’t still be a good Major League starter. After a rough season, his winter league showing is a good sign indeed.

mustang

Now this is an objective and very well balanced thread on IPK development in winter ball.
Ben, are you feeling ok?
LOL
Just kidding.
Adrian-Retire21

Good.Kennedys stock hopefully went up.So we can trade him.
- mustang
  
  I was thinking the same thing.
  D-E-J-E-S-U-S
- Mike Pop
  
  Selling low would not be so smart right now
- Stryker
  
  are you seriously that dense? why would you give up on a guy who had a handful of innings at the major league level? he’s only 24 and has a ton of potential.
  - Eric
    
    Haven’t you learend it’s more fun to declare people busts and then think of outlandish trades? God where’ve you been?!
Mike Pop

He should be our 6th or 7th starter as of right now I think.. I don’t love em but I dont hate him either
TheLastClown

I press kleptomaniacs into pierced knees

If pulled kindly, ignorant people know intrinsic properties

Kettles insinuate pitch, kindness issues pot’s kitchen

Idiot passages? Killing in perpetuity? Klutz!

If poetry, klown, I’m pretty kinky
Ken

Ben,
Why do you have this obsession with Ian Kennedy? He is basicly the equivalent of Kei Igawa, they put up great numbers vs. non major league talent and then they get lit up once they are called up to the majors.
- mustang
  
  Ouch!!!
  This is going to get ugly.
- RichYF
  
  /popcorn
  - mustang
    
    Yes, thank you.
- Jake K.
  
  Seriously? Do you have no understanding of sample size? Do you think every young pitcher enjoys instant success upon reaching the majors?
  - Steve H
    
    Yes. They win CY Youngs in their first taste of the Major Leagues or they are busts. See Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Halladay (with a huge sample size of awfulness), God (can’t forget his first 67 innings and 5.51 era)
    - Mike Pop
      
      Halladay (with a huge sample size of awfulness), God (can’t forget his first 67 innings and 5.51 era)
      
      God knows I have’nt
      - mustang
        
        LMAO
- TheLastClown
  
  Kei Igawa is a polished Japanese star pitcher. What you got out of Japan is what you’re probably going to get for the duration. Kennedy however, is just 8.2 innings over the rookie requisite of 50, and I’d make the argument that we just don’t know what Ian Kennedy the MLB pitcher looks like.
  
  While the “Kennedy is a polished college pitcher” comparison could be made, the kid will be 24 next year, Igawa will be 30. Kennedy has more room for improvement.
  
  Also: Igawa saw a decline in performance in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, despite leading the league at 228 strikeouts, he went 14-11 with a 3.73 ERA. In 2005, Igawa went 13-9 with a 3.86 ERA, fifth among his team’s starters in ERA, and was briefly exiled to the minors. He was only tied for fifth in strikeouts (down significantly to 145) and 10th in ERA, but was still third in the circuit in victories. While still a productive hurler, Igawa became a target of enthusiastic fan criticism due to his inability to perform at his prior level.
  
  That was pulled from the consensus-reality of Wikipedia. If we’re to believe it, Igawa was already declining while still in Japan. Kennedy is ascending to where we will see what his true MLB constitution looks like. 58.2 innings does not a career make, as has been so often said right here on RAB.
  
  Of course this is useless discourse, if you have already decided that Kennedy sucks and his 19 good MLB innings in 2007 are irrefutably discredited by his 39.2 bad MLB innings in 2008.
  
  Of also course, I’m not Ben so this reply may not even count.
  - TheLastClown
    
    Also:
    
    Igawa pitcher Kei indisputably parallels kid Ian Patrick Kennedy?
    
    Intellect presumed kidnapped!
  - Reggie C.
    
    Lets not forget the context in which we landed Igawa. The sting of losing Dice-K to an evil-empire like RS posting bid was still very fresh, and Igawa’s team took full advantage.
    
    Igawa was then marketed completely wrong by Yank execs as an answer to the RS. That was a mistake that i’m sure got several yank scouts fired. Look how careful the RS are being with this Tazawa signing. They’re measuring expectations smartly by saying he’s going to AA.
    - mustang
      
      Check the history it was more about Cashman being cheap sorry “Fiscally Responsible” then Dice K.
      http://www.nypost.com/seven/12022006/sports/yankees/yankees_likely_wont_turn_to_lilly_yankees_george_king.htm
      - Mike Pop
        
        I would rather have Lilly than Igawa but I am not really enamored with either
        
        mustang
        
        If they had Lilly they would be looking for one less pitcher right now and things might of been a little different in 2008. I’m NOT saying that Lilly is all that, but the Igawa over Lilly deal had more of a negative effect then people realize.
        And at the end Cashman wasted more money then he saved.
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
        
        Your first sentence is factually correct, but your conclusions are a bit of a reach. You just don’t know how Ted Lilly would have performed pitching for the Yankees in the AL East. It’s not a stretch to say that he wouldn’t be nearly as effective as he’s been in Chicago. Therefore, the money the Yanks may have spent on Lilly could have been wasted. Since Lilly was going to cost more than Igawa, it’s very likely that Cashman would have wasted more money than he saved.
        
        Mike Pop
        
        Agreed with you Ben
        
        mustang
        
        Ben, you never going to win this one.
        “You just don’t know how Ted Lilly would have performed pitching for the Yankees in the AL East”
        
        I do have idea since Lilly went 37-34 with the Blue Jays.
        So what would you rather have a about .500 pitcher for 55 million or AAA pitcher for 46 million.
        
        Anyway you cut it not getting Lilly and getting Igawa was a stupid move that cost the Yankees money and wins.
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
        
        For what is not the first time, Igawa is getting paid $4 million a year. That posting fee doesn’t matter one iota when you’re comparing Lilly to Igawa.
        
        So a .500 pitcher is worth $55 million for four years? I guess the Yanks are trying to underpay Sabathia than.
        
        You know, this conversation and your line of reasoning on Igawa vs. Lilly is so tiring. How many times do you have to beat this dead horse by making the same factual mistakes and improper assumptions over and over again before you drop it?
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
        
        And forgive me for the harshness. I’m getting a tad bit stressed out by these law school finals.
        
        mustang
        
        “For what is not the first time, Igawa is getting paid $4 million a year. That posting fee doesn’t matter one iota when you’re comparing Lilly to Igawa.’
        
        How can you say that? Did or did it not cost the Yankees 46 MILLION to get Igawa? I guess the posting fee was paid in monopoly dollars.
        
        Bottom line:
        Lilly 55 million at least a .500 MLB pitcher.
        Igawa 46 million an AAA pitcher good for batting in MLB.
        THE END
        
        mustang
        
        I don’t mind the harshness, but your seriously off base on this.
        And by the way Lilly went 17-9 in 2008. I know it’s the NL Central.
        
        mustang
        
        “You know, this conversation and your line of reasoning on Igawa vs. Lilly is so tiring.”
        
        You know what is also tiring your blind loyalty to Cashman even when he makes stupid ass moves.
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
        
        If you think not signing Ted Lilly was a “stupid ass move,” then we’re coming from vastly different perspectives. There are plenty of moves for which one could criticize Cashman. Passing on a pitcher no one on the Yanks — or the entire AL — wanted is hardly one of them.
        
        mustang
        
        It’s a stupid ass move when the replacement for Lilly was Igawa.
        Lets just agree to disagree.
        Good luck on the Finals.
        
        ceciguante
        
        mustang, you’re 100% right on this one.
        
        anyone who pretends posting fees “don’t count” obviously has no business acumen. that’s just foolish. all that matters is what the yanks pay, and though they may not pay revenue sharing or lux tax based on posting fees, those fees impact the team’s bottom line just like any other dollar spent.
        
        lilly over igawa would have been a significant increase in value. it means a real 4 or 5 starter instead of a punching bag, and it’s just not close. but don’t go knocking brian cashman around here with such valid criticisms! he’s considered a saint to half the commenters on RAB. you’ll upset them, and spark the typical feeding frenzy of sarcastic, know-it-all bullshit.
        
        btw, the fact that ben k. is actually indignant in his wrongness on this issue is hilarious.
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
        
        I’m glad I could entertain you, O Never Wrong One.
        
        But way to throw out a few baseless insults about business acumen that don’t really make sense.
        
        ceciguante
        
        btw ben, whether the rest of the AL wanted lilly is irrelevant. the GM’s job is to get players who perform, not players other GMs like. the best GM pursues good players that other GM’s don’t recognize as good. i’m not saying it’s easy to know who will perform, but that’s the GM’s primary job. you don’t give them an automatic pass b/c, at the time, other GM’s also didn’t see a player’s potential.
        
        but why hold cashman to a results-based standard? that would be silly, expecting the players to actually perform in real life. keep standing behind him on moves like pavano, because other GMs wanted that guy, too. in fact, let’s give the championship to the team who assembles the players who are most coveted by other GMs at the time of their acquisition. we can give out that championship on the internet, and just skip the games. so much simpler.
        
        mustang
        
        “Passing on a pitcher no one on the Yanks — or the entire AL — wanted is hardly one of them.”
        
        Maybe, but replace him with a player that no one in MLB wants is.
        
        ceciguante
        
        ben, i’m sorry you don’t understand my comments about business acumen. i’m worried for you there. if you need clarification, re-read my post, or see mustang’s comment re: “monopoly money.” it makes perfect sense to me. but thanks again for the entertainment value.
        
        come on, give up the cashman apologism. it’s too much when you can’t even admit that lilly + $9M > igawa, esp considering the season we got out of the 4 and 5 starters. i hear you that lilly wasn’t considered attractive, but igawa was so utterly useless, you can’t reasonably assume that lilly would’ve been so much worse in the AL that the $9M would’ve made that a worse deal. i’m sorry, but that assumption is ridiculous.
        
        mustang
        
        A little cold for my taste ceciguante, but you nailed the point home.
Reggie C.

All scouts looked at Kennedy’s average stuff but still profiled him a back-of-the-rotation guy. Kennedy is good enough to pitch in the bigs. He needs to be on point with his command, however, and that comes with repetition and opportunity.

If you lump Kennedy with all the other starters in the minors, i’d rank Kennedy AHEAD of Aceves, Horne, etc… Kennedy came out well-ahead of Pac-10 competition, and he tore the minors on a near Joba-like level. Do not sleep on Kennedy. He’s well positioned to pitch closest to 200 innings in ’09, and his health record isn’t checkered like Hughes and Joba.

Kennedy matters in ’09.
- Steve H
  
  Thanks for the sanity on this well thought out post. So what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t call him a Cy Young winner or a bust quite yet. Unbelievable to think that we shouldn’t draw conclusions quite yet after 58 innings.
  - Mike Pop
    
    People are just upset with the way the season went down..
    
    People are greedy when it comes to the Yankees.
    
    I remember the last couple games of the season when we were out of it I was playing at my weekly poker game and I had the game on. Couple people were like why even watch it, it doesnt even matter..
    - http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=594331910&ref=name Jamal G.
      
      People are just upset with the way the season went down..
      
      People are greedy when it comes to the Yankees.
      
      Oh, is that what it is? I thought a lot of folk were just irrational morons when it comes to judging rookies who struggle at the major-league level.
      - TheLastClown
        
        You’re an actor, aren’t you? Then you should know that being an “irrational moron” is not anyone’s reason for doing anything.
        
        People want the team they love to win. People want instant success, echoing Jeter & Mo. You know all of this. You also know that without a borderline-obsessive love of sabermetrical analysis, folks can come to an “irrational” conclusion.
        
        I’m just saying that calling people irrational can come from the same place as calling IPK a bust, namely making judgments without considering all the data.
        
        Also, I happen to like baseball, and follow it to some extent, as one of the less “rationally demanding” pastimes of mine.
        
        mustang
        
        Thank you.
        Sir
    - mustang
      
      “People are just upset with the way the season went down..”
      
      Of course they were they started the season with two rookies on the back end of rotation and this it’s ok if we don’t make the playoff attitude with a 200 million payroll. And people aren’t supposed to get mad when the whole thing blows up in their face?
      - Mike Pop
        
        Cashman kneww 2008 was something of a “rebuilding” year.. He did not expect the team to dominate.
      - Steve H
        
        When a team makes the playoffs 13 out of 14 years, people really shouldn’t get mad. Disappointed, sure, but mad?
        
        Mike Pop
        
        But we havent won the series since 2000 !!!
  - Reggie C.
    
    I too had my moment after the season ended when I wanted to clean the stable of young arms. But that’s passed. To see Kennedy log innings and confidence is only a positive.
    
    I think there’s a RENEWED resentment towards Kennedy b/c he can’t alone land someone like Peavy. Kennedy doesn’t and shouldn’t have the burden of front-line expectations like Joba or Hughes. Fans must realize this and know that kennedy can still be a valuable 4/5 cog in the rotation that’s not going to cost us $10 ML a year.
    - Mike Pop
      
      Its funny last year some people said don’t deal IPK for Johan and now people just want to get rid of him
- Stryker
  
  well done.
- Ron
  
  Re: Reggie C’s post:
  
  What, are you trying to show off with your reason, sanity and rationality?
  
  Seriously, I challenge anyone who thinks IPK is worthless to articulate those thoughts in as cogent a manner as Reggie C.
Mike Pop

“Ken” is a fake name, someone just wanted to get at Ben
- TheLastClown
  
  Was it you?
  - Mike Pop
    
    Nope.. If I wanted to get at him about something I would not change my name
christopher

i can see kennedy as being one of those mlb pitchers who blossoms later in his career at age 27 or 28 once he really learns how to pitch.

big problem with that is that i see him needing 2 or 3 years in the majors struggling before he gets to that point.

He is what he is – a guy with average mlb stuff who will be an average MLB pitcher. the major problem with him is that the yankees cannot afford to allow him the time to develop at the MLB level. Unlike Hughes, I cant see him being able to go out there and get by with enough pure talent to give the yankees what they need as he learns how to pitch.

Especially if the yankees sign two FAs, I do not see him wroking into their plans over the next few years. the most we can hope for is that he carries this momentum into the spring where they can put him into a deal with a club that has a 3 or 4 year plan before being competetive. Going to a rebuilding team – padres, mariners, nationals etc. would be the best thing for him and the yankees. they cannot let this guy sit in AAA until he is 26 or 27 and his ge begins to mean dimished returns in a trade.

unfortunatly, alot depends on him and how productive he will be. I almost wish that this FA class of pitchers would be available next season so the team could just allow these guys to go out and pitch without expectations of the playoffs, but I guess that was Cashman’s thinking this past year.

His plan for last season basically failed because of the inneftiveness and moreso the injuries to Hughes and Kennedy. Looking at what has happened to those two and hrne, and Garcia it seems that holding onto young pitchers is almost as risky as trading them.
Steve H

Ken, where’d you go?
- TheLastClown
  
  Ryu called, breakfast was ready. They’re so cute together….
  - Mike Pop
    
    Street Fighter reference really ? You can do better than that
    - Eric
      
      It’s more creative than a Barbie one.
Mike Pop

Man, Romo having a rough time here
- mustang
  
  Yes. I love it so.
  - Mike Pop
    
    Enjoy it while it lasts because once 2nd half comes that will be all over
    - mustang
      
      I don’t know what I enjoy more watching the Giants win ( not today) or watching the Dallas Cowgirls and Jessica’s boyfriend struggle.
      - Mike Pop
        
        I love watching Eli look shittier than any other QB in the league too
        
        mustang
        
        I know he has to stop playing with that damn big ass Super-bowl ring on this finger. It throws off his whole game.
        
        Mike Pop
        
        Heh
        
        pat
        
        i love watching eli’s receiver drop perfectly placed passes
http://poormansanalyst.wordpress.com/ dan

Add Volquez to that list of guys sucking in the first year or two.
- Mike Pop
  
  Does Lester make that list or no ? He did not exactly suck his first 2 years but he did not dominate
  - Steve H
    
    I’d say no. Only the true busts whose era’s are over than 5 in their first shot at the majors.
    - Mike Pop
      
      I cant believe that he went from 63 innings to 210. Thats crazy, he might pull a Fausto Carmona in 2009
      - Steve H
        
        He had another 90 innings in the minors in 2007 and 10 more in the playoffs. So the jump isn’t nearly as big.
        
        Mike Pop
        
        Oh my bad
        
        Chris
        
        That’s still an increase of about 60 innings over his previous career high. Generally the limit teams look for is 30.
Ken

I really do like Kennedy and I hope he becomes a star. The Kei Igawa comparison was a succesful attempt to spin everybody up. I’m bored, the Giants played like shit today and I am sick of following the C.C./Yankee saga.
- Mike Pop
  
  Sure…..
Mike Pop

T-O
- E-ROC
  
  I am actually rooting for the Cowboys to win as I am a Ravens fan.
  - Mike Pop
    
    That play was huge.. Such a sick play
Mike Pop

Ben, MLBTR has more on Sheets.
- Reggie C.
  
  Mike Pop,
  we seem to agree on most things baseball. why are you a cowboys fan???
  - Mike Pop
    
    My brother, when I was growing up he wwas a hughe Boys fan.. That’s the reason.. Been with them since.
mustang

Romo under pressure plays like a champ.
- Mike Pop
  
  Only the best of them do
  - pat
    
    like in the 2007 playoffs?
    - Mike Pop
      
      I blocked that out
      - pat
        
        BLOCK THAT OUT BITCH TOUCHDOWN STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!
        
        Mike Pop
        
        My heart— Ripped out
LeftyLarry

Kennedy is small and barely gets his very straight fastball up to the 90’s.
He’s Right handed and has decent not spectacular breaking stuff.
If Yanks brought him in on waivers and you watched him pitch for the first time, you’d say, “Career Minor Leaguer,” or maybe a 4-5th starter some day.What’s the big deal, one way or the other.
There are much better prospects in the organization who also pitch.
- pat
  
  Sorry to break it to you, but you have not an effing clue what you’re talking about.
mustang

How about that Romo and those Dallas Cowboys.
So much for pre-season predictions.

HEEEEEEEEE