Kyle Kendrick struggles in Phillies' loss to Padres

SAN DIEGO - If the Phillies' current rotation remains in order, Kyle Kendrick will make his last start of the season on Wednesday in Miami. It could very well be his last start with the organization that drafted and developed him and brought him into the big leagues as a 22-year-old in 2007.

Last night, in a 7-3 loss in which he lasted five innings, Kendrick looked very much like the pitcher he has been throughout his career. He was, in a word, present.

In the second inning, he surrendered a home run to light-hitting shortstop Alexi Amarista as the Padres took a 1-0 lead. The Phillies tied the game in the fourth after Darin Ruf doubled with one out and Domonic Brown singled him home, but Kendrick issued a leadoff walk to Yasmani Grandal and then singles to Seth Smith and Tommy Medica to set up a sacrifice fly by Amarista that gave the Padres the 2-1 lead. Kendrick recorded the first two outs in the fifth, but then allowed a single to Jedd Gyorko, walked Yasmani Grandal, and then allowed an RBI single to Seth Smith. Kendrick eventually got Amarista to fly out with the bases loaded to end the frame.

He finished the night with five walks, two strikeouts and six hits, but only three runs allowed in five innings.

Kendrick entered last night with numbers nearly identical to the ones he posted last season: 30 starts, a 4.72 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 1.2 HR/9. Certainly not the stuff of Cy Youngs, but that has never been where Kendrick's value lies. He is one of only 12 Phillies pitchers since integration to have at least five seasons of 150 innings pitched, joining Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, Cole Hamels, Chris Short, Curt Simmons, Curt Schilling, Brett Myers, Larry Christenson, Jim Lonborg, Rick Wise, and Jim Bunning. Last night was his 184th start as a Phillie, moving him ahead of Brett Myers and into sole possession of 16th place on the club's all-time list. Since integration, those 184 starts rank 11th.

Kendrick's ability to stay healthy and pitch whenever called upon is enough of a skill that he could be in line for a multiyear deal despite some of the struggles he has endured this year.

Last year, Mike Pelfrey signed a 2-year, $11 million deal with the Twins with career numbers similar to Kendrick and a walk year in which he posted a 5.19 ERA in 152 2/3 innings. Kevin Correia had a near-identical profile when he signed a 2-year, $10 million with the Twins before 2013.

At those numbers, one can't completely rule out a Kendrick return, but at this stage in their trajectory, the Phillies are probably better off targeting bounce-back candidates with higher upside than Kendrick. For example, the Cubs signed Scott Feldman to a 1-year, $6 million deal before the 2013 season and later traded him to the Cubs in a deal that landed them starter Jake Arieta and reliever Pedro Strop. This past offseason, they did it again, signing Jason Hammel to a 1-year, $6 million deal and later trading him to the A's along with Jeff Smardzija for premiere shortstop prospect Addison Russell, starter Dan Straily, and outfield prospect Billy McKinney.

In losing three out of four to the Padres, the Phillies fell to 70-83, putting them on pace to finish the year with 74 wins. That's actually a fortunate result: A win last night would have left the Phillies a half game "behind" the Padres in the race for a better draft pick. As it stands now, they would own the No. 9 pick in the draft, two spots lower than last year, when they selected LSU righthander Aaron Nola at No. 7. But they are within striking distance of the White Sox, Cubs and Astros, all of whom entered the day within three games of the Phillies.

Today, the Phillies begin a three-game series against the suddenly struggling Oakland A's before moving on to a three-game series in Miami and then finishing out the season with a three-game home set against the Braves.