Kendrick's job to lose
The Phillies have completed Day 2 of workouts for pitchers and catchers. After today's workout, pitching coach Rich Dubee said that righthander Kyle Kendrick "is still the leading candidate" for the open fifth starter's job.
Kendrick's job to lose
Inquirer Online Desk
Inquirer staff writer Jim Salisbury reports:
The Phillies have completed Day 2 of workouts for pitchers and catchers. After today's workout, pitching coach Rich Dubee said that righthander Kyle Kendrick "is still the leading candidate" for the open fifth starter's job.
"I can't walk away from those 21 wins," Dubee said.
Kendrick has 21 wins in his first 50 big-league starts. He lost his spot in the rotation late last season, but hopes improvements to his changeup and slider will help him win back the job this spring.
Dubee emphasized that three others have a chance to win the job in spring training: They are lefty J.A. Happ and righthanders Chan Ho Park and Carlos Carrasco.
"We'll evaulate all of them," Dubee said. "If someone is better, we'll go with someone better."
More on Kendrick in Monday's Inquirer. We'll also have a look at the story behind Carlos Ruiz' decision to play for his native
Comments (24)
Maybe he could walk away from 323h 82bb 39hr and 117k over 276ip?— Philip L- Wins are the most overrated stat for pitchers. He fell apart after the league saw him for a second time. Give me Happ, much better numbers over a small sample size.— azazo26
- lucky if Kendrick lasts 6-61/2 innings - and the offense has to score 6-8 runs. Those 21 wins shows how great our offense is. Time to give JA Happ a chance, and put Kendrick in the minors to work on his confidence/stuff - if Happ doesn't work out.— AllDawk_AllTheTime
Comment removed.- Kendrick had his chances and blew them. Give Happ (or Carrasco) a chance to prove themselves before running Kendrick out there again.— MattPSU
- they will all get a chance...dubee just said that. what's he gonna tell kendrick? "sorry, kid, you have not shot this year"? thats what spring training is for— beetle
- If you're going to have a competition for the 5th spot, what do you gain by designating a front runner before camp opens? All you're doing is putting more expectations onto Kendrick's fragile mentality, along with making guys like Chan Ho Park feel like he got hoodwinked into signing with us. Just let the guys sort it out with their performances on the mound and leave the politics to the idiots in Washington.— YodelInTheVlly
- if he really worked hard this offseason..i think it will show..and he'll be our 5th— EskinzWack
- I have hope for Kendrick yet BUT..i do agree that the offense bailed him out a lot and the league caught up to him. Happ has the stuff to be our guy now. Maybe Kendrick will develop a good offspeed pitch and become a solid guy but as of late last season that wasnt the case. It should be Happs job to lose based on last September.— philsfan in the atx
- By the middle of last season Kendrick was no longer a ground ball pitcher. Everything seemed to be up in the zone. He seem more concerned with hitting the low 90's with his fastball than keeping his sinker down. In 07 his ground out to fly out ratio was a starting pitcher leading 1.47. In 08 it dropped to 1.29 as Kendrick was unable to keep his pitches down in the zone to get the ground ball with runners on base as he was able to do in 07 to pitch out of jams.— Dull
Why would Dubee say that it's Kendrick's job to lose? Think about it. Kendrick got beat around during the second half of last year. Everyone says it's partly to do with confidence. So the pitching coach says some nice things to boost his self-confidence. Does it commit him to anything? Of course not. The job is going to go to whomever they think has the best chance at winning come the first week of April. And what was said in the middle of February will mean nothing. So why not give the youngster a public build help? It might help and it can't hurt......One thing I've learned from watching baseball for over 50 years: don't give up too soon on a young pitcher. Every team has pulled the plug too soon and they regret it for years. Do you remember the Mets dealing a guy named Nolan Ryan because they thought he'd never amount to anything because of his blister problems. Closer to home, does the name Ferguson Jenkins ring a bell? Then there's this guy named Moyer you might have heard of. Give Kendrick a chance. Maybe it will pay off and maybe he'll be out of baseball in three years. He's young. Give him some time to see what he can do.- Comment removed.
- I have complete faith in Kyle Kendrick. I have watched him pitch over the past 1.5 seasons and I know he can pitch. He pitches to contact, much like Jamie Moyer. He is a control pitcher and if he's getting pinched by the umpire, he's going to be in for a long night. He needs the close pitches to be called strikes, because he's not going to strike out many hitters. He also needs his fielder's to field the ball, turn double plays, etc. It's really frustrating to see how quickly the fans in this town give up on someone. Kendrick has heart and he uses his head, more than his arm to get people out. You need to have faith!— foreclosure11
- Comment removed.
- Phillip L has an excelllllllent point. I think Chan Ho Park is going to surprise a lot of people. He may not make the rotation, but I bet he's in there by the end of the year.— pfranklin
- What does it do for others peoples pysche? You have to be kidding me...First of all if their psyche is that fragile, than I don't want them as a starting pitcher. Second of all, by designating someone, it makes the other pitchers work harder to win the spot...Harder than they would if no one was designated. Have we seen is new change up yet? Give the kid a break. It think Dubee knows a little more than you...— phigglesfan75
- Some of you might try reading the article more closely. Dubee never said it was Kendrick's job to lose; that came from the headline writer. What he did say was that he was the leading candidate, which is not quite the same thing. Since it is perfectly obvious that whoever gets it will have to deliver during Spring Training, he really didn't say very much. If Kendrick gets shelled in a couple of games he'll be the leading candidate to become an iron pig.— judas_priest
- "I can't walk away from 21 wins"...What a dumb thing for a pitching coach to say. Hey Dubee this is not 1962. Who do you think your kidding. I want Carrasco he's the one with movement on his fastball. What Dubee meant to say was... "I can't walk away from the guy who if we had kept him in the rotation last year would have blown the season for us."— Theo1980
- Breaking News: Steve Smith wants Dubee's opinion on his coaching perfomance at 3rd base. Adam Eaton would also like to know what Dubee thought of his 14 wins over two years.— Theo1980
- Comment removed.
- Well Skinny, if I'm J.A. Happ and I hear Kendrick is my main competition for the #5 job, I'm feeling pretty good right about now.— Claudio Vernight
- Not sure of Dubee's reasoning, or lack thereof in making such a statement. It must send a sour message to Happ who really deserves the strongest consideration.— mick314
- wow - there are a lot of ignorant people on this blog who are throwing kendrick in the dumpster while he's still growing as a back end pitcher. "fragile mentality?" did you forget the pressure this guy pitched under in 2007? why the bitterness at this kid? - were you beaten severely as a child?— jamesiri
- "I can't walk away from those 21 wins," but you can walk away from Chan Ho Parks 117 wins? That's a ridiculous statement! I think Park will deserve it, but Kendrick will get it because Park is more invaluable to the Phils in bullpen and Kyle isn't a bullpen option. I hope they don't do it, but I think they are going to use Happ to fill in for J.C. for two months than stretch him out in AAA to bring him back as a starter after the allstar break. Of course, if Kyle has a relapse, he'll be in AAA, Happ will be the 5th starter, Park will be in the pen, and the Phils will need another left-handed pitcher to complement Scott Eyre.— Erich H
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