Friday, August 31, 2007

Random thoughts on Ian Kennedy.....

Kennedy's pitching in a few days so I might as well write something about him.

Kennedy was the Yankees first pick last year, even before Joba Chamberlain. He was the 21st overall pick, taken out of USC. A lot of people wre killing the Yankees on that pick for taking a a "soft tosser" like him in the first round. He was considered a safe pick with an excellent shot at making the majors one day but with a low ceiling. Baseball Prospectus predicted that he not only had a ceiling of a #5 guy but he also would be out of baseball in three years. Kennedy only pitched 2.2 innings for Staten Island last year. He started 2007 in A Tampa. He dominated with a 1.29 ERA in 63 innings. His K/BB was an unbelievable 72/22. He was then called up to AA Trenton with Joba. He didn't do as well as Joba but they gave Trenton an amazing 1-2 combination. His ERA was 2.59 in 48.2 innings with a 57/17 K/BB. Again he was called up with Joba to AAA Scranton. He pitched well in his three starts there. He had a 1.06 ERA and a K/BB of 19/5.

He`s mainly a finesse pitcher and usually throws in the high 80's or 90 mph. He has an okay curve and an average 2 seam FB. His best pitch is his changeup which is Edwar esque. Don't be fooled by Kennedy's numbers he isn't an ace. I think he`ll be a solid middle of the rotation guy that can eat innings. Of course we were saying similar things about Tyler Clippard last year and he`s dropped off a lot. Only time will tell.

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