Quote:
Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch
Kennedy needs to be demoted IMO. Much different case than Hughes. Hughes needs to learn the league IMO. He needs to learn which guys he can go right after and which guys his stuff forces him to be careful with. He needs to learn that a 1 pitch groundout is more effective than a 8 pitch strikeout. Stuff like that. The Baltimore game just proved the point further. Too many deep counts against a Baltimore lineup that isnt very good.
For Kennedy, he is not a power type pitcher. He wont consistently throw the ball 92+ like Hughes can (and did in Baltimore). He doesnt have the Hughes curveball either. he's a finesse, location guy and this is what made him so effective in his 5 level jump last yr. 13BB in 14IP shows that something is wrong. Is it mechanical? Is he hurt? Has he lost his confidence? Whatever it is, I'd ship him to AAA and see how he fares. Right now, Igawa is throwing better.
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I think that word got back to MLB that folks* were watching their umpires award Kennedy strike calls on pitches that should've been balls that were called balls for the opposing team's pitchers. Pitch f/x allows such analysis. Kennedy was getting a couple of runs shaved off his ERA last year through favorable pitch calling, and this year he's not getting those calls. Accordingly, it's now evident that he sucks.
* "Folks" may possibly include the author of this post.
