I can’t remember where I read it, either the Post or the News, but the gist was “don’t pay any attention to September numbers”. And Kennedy did compile his impressive stats against Tampa, Toronto and KC, three teams with no playoff hopes last September. Before Joba’s injury, didn’t Girardi or Cashman say that regardless of how Kennedy is pitching, they want him to work on his off-speed pitches?

FWIW, Buchholz, who most people would surely agree has a higher upside than Kennedy, is having terrible problems because the league is laying off his offspeed stuff and he’s not commanding his fastball, which is about as straight as Kennedy’s but comes in quite a bit faster.

You know, if you don’t have Papelbon/Joba stuff, its not easy to be consistently effective in the majors right from jump street.

Kennedy will never be Maddux, no one will be. But patience is a virtue.
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I certainly am not going to give up on Kennedy after 40 innings.

Check out soon to be HoF pitcher Greg Maddux’s first two seasons.

Kennedy will never be Maddux, no one will be. But patience is a virtue.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maddugr01.shtml

His FB is not where it was in 2005 and 2007. It is where it was in 2006, which is why he *fell* to the Yankees. Maybe, just maybe, his FB will be back where it was in ’05 and ’07 in ’09 Why not?.

I don’t give a crap how low his frigging AAA WHIP is.
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We know. Which is why you aren’t in player development.

He has nothing left to prove in the minors, he’s going to have to take his lumps in the majors.

I don’t give a crap how low his frigging AAA WHIP is. We’ve seen enough to know he can’t pitch on the only level that matters. Buh bye, “IPK.”

…they made him a first-round pick…they rushed him through the minors last season
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Looking at his numbers, it’s no surprise that they rushed him.

And if he keeps putting sub 1 WHIP’s in the minors, he’ll be back before long.

Ian Kennedy is not the same pitcher he was when he came up last season. Last season everything he threw was down in the zone and had a corner. He didn’t need to use anything more than his changeup and his fastball but he mixed in his slider effectively. This year his pitches are up and over the middle of the plate. His stuff does have more life than his velocity would indicate but unless he locates it major leaguers are going to time it and tattoo it. His command and control are down from last year. He was a competitor with average stuff and plus plus command and polish. This year he’s a competitor with average stuff and average command and until he finds it again he won’t be able to succeed at this level. In his college career he had habits of being extraordinarily streaky. His freshman year he was dominant. Then, in his sophomore year he got lit up. He rebounded in his junior year and was deserving of the pick the Yankees gave him in the draft. Hopefully he can work out some things and return to form but I wouldn’t give up on a kid like Ian Kennedy because of a poor showing over 40 innings…that really isn’t an indication of much besides the fact that he’s struggling to control his stuff.

They did rush Kennedy. He looked so polished and professional last fall didn’t he? It’s funny how you learn something new from baseball all the time. A guy looks like Mike Mussina Jr and people are fooled into thinking he is ready. Teams baby the pitching kids these days BUT Kennedy needs yet some more polish before he’s ready.

It’s not like this team has options either. Rasner? The prince was turning back into a frog on him. Pavano and Highes? Can both of these guys stay healthy for more than 1 start? I think Pavano can because he wants a contract next year. Chase Wright? Another unproven quantity yet at this point it couldn’t hurt. All in all, these alternatives are far more palatable then Kennedy.