Thursday, March 16, 2017

Kyle Kendrick? Nobody's Laughing At The Red Sox Now

(AP Photo)
Many—including your humble scribe—mocked Dave Dombrowski for signing seemingly washed-up starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick to a minor league deal. After all, the 32-year-old righty had stunk it up in Colorado two years ago—posting a 6.32 ERA in 27 starts for the Rockies. He did not pitch at all in the majors in 2016. Granted a lot of his poor performance in 2015 was at Coors Field, but Kendrick gave up a whopping 172 hits in just 142.1 innings—and turned in an abysmal WHIP of 1.525. So, of course, Kendrick has hurled 15 straight scoreless innings (out of 18 total) this Spring—including five yesterday. His ERA is a stellar 1.50. He struck out six batters yesterday saying, "I'm not trying to strike out guys at all. I'm not a strikeout guy. I'm just trying to get some early contact and get ahead." Given the David Price situation, Kendrick is certainly in the mix for one of the final rotation spots—at least for the the first month or so.