If Kendrick was looking to make a good impression and get himself another start, I think he accomplished that goal today. Here’s the final line
6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
And the rest
11:3 GB:FB, 92 pitches (55 strikes, 37 balls)
I didn’t get to watch a lot of the game, I was actually doing work at work, but I watched a few batters here or there, and listened to the rest in the background. From what I saw, his mechanics looked smooth, he looked pretty fluid and easy on the mound after the first inning, and he did a good job keeping the ball down. His fastball looked good, consistently in the 92-94 range from what I saw, and his slider showed some promise. I’ll have re-watch the archived version of the game later to get a better handle on how he pitched as a whole, but from what I saw, I think he gets himself another game. The most important thing for him, as I highlighted earlier when I advocated giving him a shot is his control and groundball tendencies. He brought both parts today, issuing only 2 walks, 1 of them intentional, and getting 11 grounders to only 3 fly balls. One of those fly balls should have been caught, as Victorino took a bad route to the ball and it got past him. I’ve stated before that I tend to place a higher value on guys with great walk rates, even if they don’t have big strikeout numbers in the minors. 4 K’s in 6 innings might not seem great, but it’s passable. The big key is not handing out free passes, and Kendrick gets a thumbs up in that department today.
The Phillies do not have an off day on Monday, which would means Hamels will go Monday and Kendrick is likely to get his second major league start on Tuesday against the high powered Indians. The key again, will be to keep the ball down and keep Cleveland off the bases.
Phuture Phillies 
The ump had a very small strike zone today which makes it even more impressive. He got something I believe he didn’t get much of in Reading. Run support and good defense behind him(with the exception of Shane’s misplay). He got a couple of double plays which were nice. He had a problem with the real good/tough hitters Thome and Dye but lots of pitchers do. Dye seems to be snapping out of his slump. He can start bashing the ball against other teams now! Sweet Sweep!
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The White Sox are also in a team wide slump. Cleveland willcertainly be a better test. That aside, he was victimized by a little bad luck and some poor infield defense (Howard and Helms) if the radio reports were accurate. He let too many first batters on base early.
Al that aside, it was a nice first outing. I like the extreme ground ball tndencies and the control. If he can continue striking out 4 in 6 IP that’s good enough.
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The White Sox are also in a team wide slump. Cleveland will certainly be a better test. That aside, he was victimized by a little bad luck and some poor infield defense (Howard and Helms) if the radio reports were accurate. He let too many first batters on base early.
All that aside, it was a nice first outing. I like the extreme ground ball tendencies and the control. If he can continue striking out 4 in 6 IP that’s good enough.
(I’m trying to edit here but I have a feeling it won’t work — James, if there’s a way you can get this thing to have an edit function us poor typers will appreciate it.)
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Hmmm … a ground ball pitcher at Citizen’s … though I doubt he’s the second coming of Hamels … that’s certainly a recipe for POSSIBLY being effective in the park.
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Big difference between this kid’s facial expression and the Gavin Floyd “deer caught in the headlights” look. This kid was NOT AFRAID to be out there. But you can’t tell much until they go around a second time. Floyd looked great his first time out too.
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This detroit series is going to be tough, if we get 2 of 3 i will be amazed.
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Chris, I said the same thing re the strike zone as I was watching the game. The umpire refused to give the black or to call the high strike. To be fair though, he was consistent and Danks was working with the same strike zone most of the day.
Overall, Kendrick’s performance was good. He was getting hit around early in the game but he worked out of jams effectively and did not meltdown (a la Floyd). I thought his most effective pitch was his slider away to righties. His fastball got better, with respect to both location and action, as the game went on.
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Steve, I had the same impression of Kendrick’s demeanor. The word that came to mind was “professional.” Wheeler had a good point on the broadcast (I know, I know…) about how he works fast, which the fielders presumably appreciate.
In brief, he was a lot better than I expected. The stuff looked sharp, and the command and groundball tendencies his AA numbers suggested both showed up in the debut.
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It was interesting – I watched the early ABs on game day, and judging by the pitch locations indicated, he didn’t seem afraid to throw solid strikes – he seemed to avoid nibbling. granted, that could have been bad pitches on his behalf, but on the whole I was impressed, especially with the DPs.
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Congrats to Kyle on a great debut. He still has a lot of fans here in Batavia rooting for him. I remember talking to him at the final home game in Batavia just 2 seasons ago and I think its great that he made to the show.
I even picked him up for my fantasy team. I had to cut Randy Johnson, but wouldn’t you?
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