August 09, 2008
Two Returns
Ian Kennedy's great performances at AAA didn't translate to the majors. He also doesn't seem to realize how poorly he pitched.
Kennedy (0-4) allowed nine hits in his short stint, five in a row to start the third inning. But the 23-year-old right-hander didn't think he pitched poorly.
"I felt like I made some good pitches," he said. "I'm not too upset about it. ... What was it, a bunch of singles and three doubles? I'm just not real upset about it. I'm just going to move on and I've already done that."
Joe Girardi didn't share that opinion. In his world, nine hits over two-plus innings is something to be upset about.
"That's not what you want," the manager said. "You've got to get better the next start. He's got some work to do, and we'll get him ready."
Good pitches are what CC Sabathia made to the Nationals last night. Kennedy needs to learn to take responsibility for his poor outings.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers returned Brad Penny to the rotation. He was given a somewhat easier assignment as he faced the Giants and Barry Zito. He allowed one hit over five innings, but walked three without striking out a batter. His control wasn't that good , 32 balls, 44 strikes.
Asked if the Penny he saw was an improvement over the stiff-shouldered pitcher who was 0-7 in the eight starts leading up to his being put on the disabled list, Manager Joe Torre replied, "I think it's too early to say that."
At least Penny has a positive outing on which to build.
Posted by David Pinto at
09:29 AM
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What was it, a bunch of singles and three doubles?
That made me laugh out loud. The time to worry is when you give up 5 home runs in a row, but not before then!
It is funny. That said, I wonder if he has not been prepped to focus on the "positive." Trying to stay mentally strong, confident. If he owns the failure that start was he'd have to consider his days as a Yank numbered.
Oh, I don't know. I doubt Kennedy was satisfied with the outcome of his start, but that doesn't mean he might not think the inputs (ie, his pitches) weren't okay. A pitch's quality is not determined by what a batter does with it; bloopers and infield grounders go for hits every day, and that's not something a pitcher should worry about.
If Kennedy's getting hit hard, that's one thing (and three doubles really is quite a few if they're not grounders that sneak down the line). But if the balls are just finding holes, I'd encourage the pitcher not to worry too much about it.
Pitchings really hard - you have to be really consistent and you can't make many mistakes at that level. 'I made some good pitches' isn't the problem, it's the not so good ones and the lack of consistency that kill you.
