Kyle Kendrick
| IP | 1289 |
|---|---|
| ERA | 4.685 |
| WHIP | 1.393 |
| BB/9 | 2.59 |
| SO/9 | 4.922 |
- Full name Kyle Rodney Kendrick
- Born 08/26/1984 in Houston, TX
- Profile Ht.: 6'3" / Wt.: 220 / Bats: R / Throws: R
- School Mount Vernon
- Debut 06/13/2007
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Drafted in the 7th round (205th overall) by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003 (signed for $135,000).
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Kendrick projected as a possible early-round pick as a sophomore, but his stock slipped because of a subpar performance as a junior. A fastball that measured 84-86 mph last year, though, has returned to the low 90s. His 81 mph slider also has been effective pitch. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Kendrick, also a top-rated quarterback in high school, is one of the state's best athletes and waited until April to sign with Washington State so he could keep open his option of playing both football and baseball in college. Had he signed with the Cougars in November in the NCAA's early signing period for baseball, he could not have played football for two years. Kendrick's athletic ability is superior to his arm action and feel for pitching at this point.
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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One of the better athletes in the system, Kendrick was lured away from a football scholarship at Washington State when the Phillies signed him for $135,000 in 2003. After two years of scuffling through the system, Kendrick emerged in 2006 and finished among the organization leaders in ERA and led all farmhands with 176 innings. The biggest difference has been his 82-84 mph slider, which served as his primary out pitch after being promoted to high Class A. Kendrick commands his fastball well, sitting at 91- 94 mph with good movement, and his changeup also improved last season to become at least an average pitch. Though his slider became his go-to pitch, he can still get around on it at times when he rushes his delivery. Kendrick is one of the most durable pitchers in the system and he should begin the season in the Double-A rotation. -
Kendrick's skills as a quarterback and punter earned him a Washington State football scholarship, but he instead signed with Philadephia for $135,000 as a seventh-round pick in 2003. The Phillies envisioned him adding velocity to his fastball as he filled out his lanky but sturdy frame, and his heater now sits at 90-92 mph with good movement. Kendrick took longer than expected to come up with a suitable second pitch. His soft, loopy curveball never developed any bite and he failed to put away hitters when he got ahead in the count. So the Phillies moved him out of low Class A last April and switched him to a slider. Once he got a feel for it, the slider's tight break made Kendrick a different pitcher. He finally owned a strikeout pitch he could trust. Kendrick's changeup is close to average. With everything coming together for him, the Phillies are predicting a big year for him in 2006. Kendrick still needs to improve his overall command, and will start the season back in low Class A. -
Kendrick and Scott Mathieson produced similar 2003 seasons in the Gulf Coast League, but they went in different directions in their full-season debuts. The Phillies aggressively moved both to low Class A to start 2004, but Kendrick struggled with his command and ended up at Batavia, where he led the New York-Penn League in losses. Still, his body type, stuff and command issues remind the Phillies of a young Jason Schmidt, right down to Kendrick's also hailing from Washington, where he was a three-sport high school athlete. Kendrick's 11-strikeout, no-walk, one-hit perfromance against Oneonta provided a strong reason to keep the faith, something Kendrick needs to do himself. He often panicked at the first sign of trouble, working backward and letting bad pitches and at-bats snowball. His fastball shows good movement in the low-90s, his curveball is a potential hammer and his changeup is developing. All the ingredients for a power pitcher are there, but Kendrick must sharpen his command while regaining his confidence. His situation reminds some in the organization of Keith Bucktrot. Kendrick will start this year back in low Class A. -
Don't be fooled by Kendrick's 0-4, 5.46 pro debut. He has the makings of a special pitcher, and Phillies assistant GM Mike Arbuckle compares him to a young Jason Schmidt. Like Schmidt, he hails from Washington state, is athletic (he played three sports in high school) and shows the raw ingredients of three plus pitches. Kendrick would have gone earlier than the seventh round last June had teams not been scared off by a scholarship to play quarterback at Washington State. His two-seam fastball has good movement at 89-92 mph and projects to add velocity, while his overhand curveball shows signs of becoming a plus pitch. He also has made strides with his circle changeup, which fades away from lefthanders and is already an average pitch at times. During instructional league, Phillies pitching prospects watched film of Josh Beckett throwing his changeup in the postseason and it gave Kendrick more confidence in his. He fanned three hitters with his changeup in his next instructional league outing. He has shown the aptitude to pick up things quickly and the work ethic to master them. He used to get his head out of line in his delivery, causing him to fall off to the side of the mound. He fixed the problem through video work in instructional league. The key for Kendrick is to get his lanky limbs and quick arm working in unison as he becomes more consistent in repeating what is already a good basic delivery. He'll work on that in 2004 at either Batavia or Lakewood.
Minor League Top Prospects
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Kendrick never had pitched above Class A prior to 2007, but he entered the postseason as the Phillies' Game Two starter, and his 3.87 ERA ranked second among their starters. He got started down that path in the EL, as he harnessed his command and stopped trying to pitch up in the strike zone with his fastball and down with his slider. The athletic Kendrick repeats his delivery, pumps his two-seam sinker to the bottom of the zone and spots his harder, low-90s four-seamer down and away. He also has a hard slider that's more of a groundball pitch than a strikeout offering. His changeup plays up because he locates it well. "He realized strikeouts are over-rated," Reading manager P.J. Forbes said. "He's pitching at the knees and when he misses, he misses down. He made hitters hit his pitch, because his command was that good. To give up just three home runs, playing in our ballpark, that's all about executing your pitches, and he did."
