Sep
12
Yanks activate Ian Kennedy
ByHere’s a bit of a surprise courtesy of Chad Jennings: The Yankees have activated Ian Kennedy from the disabled list. Kennedy has also been optioned to Tampa which means he’ll likely be starting the Florida State League championship game in about 35 minutes. Kennedy last threw a simulated game on Tuesday and was set to throw another 50-pitch simulated game today. I believe his pitch count will be in place, but he’ll be facing live batters in a real game instead. This is some good news indeed.
No chance he comes up though, right?
Doubt it. He’s a ways off from being MLB ready. He’ll still go to the Arizona Fall League and log some innings there.
Not sure he qualifies for the AFL, he pitched in Puerto Rico last year.
Yeah, we know. Despite the fact that no one I know can figure out exactly how he is eligible to pitch in the AFL, the Yankees — and, by extension, all of those covering them — continue to say he’s heading to the AFL.
Gotcha. Seems backwards, but whatever.
He’s listed on an AFL roster.
So he should ruin the day Tampa’s opponent, right? Good to see him back in game action, and I look forward to his return to the Bronx.
Great news, hope all is well with Ian and look forward to seeing him pitch in the bigs next year. If he needed a wake up call (I’m not sure he did) then this injury would certainly qualify.
I’m looking forward to seeing him pitch the 8th inning next year…and then having arguments over it.
Haha, I would not be the least bit surprised if that happens.
ANDY PETTITTE IS A STAHTING PITCHAH!!
IETC.
Tom Zig got me thinking, so let me throw this out there.
IPK doesn’t have primary setup man stuff, so you won’t see him in the Joba/Hughes role. But neither does Alfredo Aceves, and he’s been invaluable to us this year.
Could you see him assuming the Aceves role next year? Maybe an injury moves Ace to the rotation and IPK takes over the long man role.
I could see that. The Yanks showed with Hughes this year that they’d rather get MLB innings out of their MLB-ready pitching prospects than send them down. If Kennedy is ready to contribute and the spot is available, he’ll do so at the Big League level. I think if he rebounds from this injury, he’ll be ahead of Aceves on the depth charts though just because he has a bit of a higher ceiling.
It also works because often young pitchers are their own worst enemy. By not knowing when he’s coming in, he can’t over-think things. He simply has to get loose and get his ass in the game. I think it’s a good way to break a young pitcher in, by letting him dip his feet in the waters slowly. Giving him less than he can handle, and limiting his downside.
BTW-You know who would be a great setup man? AJ Burnett.
CC Sabathia would be the best LOOGY they’ve had in years.
Oh yeah.
Tournament Baseball, baby. Its the wave of the future. Everybody pitches 2-3 innings every 3 days.
Pettitte could pitch until he’s 50 as a LOOGY.
Not unless he can walk 3 batters in a row and proceed to strike out the side. Interestingly enough he has the worst control, but best stuff of any starter on the team.
That just means he’s a latter day Jeff Nelson.
I seriously hope Kennedy has a good outing.
One perfect inning, three groundballs so far.
2 innings 1 H, 1K 5 GO
No one dominates crap competition quite like IPK