MLB News and Rumors

Ian Kennedy had some real pretty numbers in 2011 and some less pretty numbers in 2012. Even so, Kennedy’s 2012 season ended on a high note and he finished at 15-12 to give him a two year win-loss record of 36-16, which again looks very pretty. Those 36 wins are the fourth most in baseball over those two combined season. But, of course, we all know that the win-loss statistic is not very favored these days in the analytic community. And for the most part, that is the correct call. As such, Ian Kennedy is not really considered to be an elite pitcher and nobody’s list of the ten or twenty best pitchers in baseball would include him.

But there are some things you may not know about Ian Kennedy and you should. Some of them defend his lack of elite status and some fly in the face of it. Here, then is a list of things you probably did not know about Ian Kennedy’s pitching.

1. Most of the batted balls off of Ian Kennedy are fly balls. Kennedy’s ground ball percent…

Related Posts:

• Six things you might not know about Lance Berkman
• Six things you probably didn’t know about Edwin Encarnación
• What Atlanta Braves’ Fans Should Know About Chris Johnson
• Price complains about ticket
• Five things we learned about opening weekend in MLB

With the Diamondbacks and Padres on the fringe of the playoff race, it’s safe to say one of these teams will no longer be there when this three-game series concludes.

The visiting Padres are further back in the hunt for the second wild-card spot in the NL, but they may have a good chance to make up some ground starting Tuesday night considering their recent performances against the D-backs.

San Diego (71-76) trails St. Louis by six games for the second berth while Arizona (72-74) is 4 12 back. With a handful of teams in front of them, it is going to be difficult for the Padres or Diamondbacks to jump into playoff position, especially for the club that loses this series.

“You look (at the scoreboard), but just looking isn’t going to help,” outfielder Jason Kubel told the Diamondbacks’ official website. “You have to worry about what’s going on with you before you scoreboard watch and worry about what other people are doing. First thing is winning games.”

San Diego has been doing that over the past month, going 19-6 in its last 25 games. The Padres are 5-1 against the Diamondbacks over that stretch and have won eight of nine meetings — including six straight at Chase Field — after losing four of the first six.

The Padres took two of three at home from the Rockies this past weekend, blowing a six-run lead late Sunday before winning 12-11 on Yonder Alonso’s RBI single in the ninth inning.

Alonso went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and is batting .429 (9 for 21) while driving in eight runs in his past six games. He’s hitting .259 with 10 RBIs in 14 games against the D-backs this season, including 4 for 9 with a homer off scheduled starter Ian Kennedy (13-11, 4.21 ERA).

“We feel good about ourselves and where we are headed,” Alonso said.

The Diamondbacks have struggled to a 6-7 mark this month, avoiding a three-game sweep at home Sunday with a 10-2 rout of the NL West-leading Giants.

Justin Upton continued his recent strong play with a solo homer and two-run double. He’s batting .333 with three home runs and seven RBIs over his last seven games, with two of the homers coming over the weekend.

“Just trying to get some good pitches to hit, be a little more patient, see the ball over the middle of the plate and put a good swing on it,” Upton said. “I’ve tried to stay positive all year and keep going. Stringing together a couple of good days is nice.”

Upton has had success in his career against Padres starter Eric Stults (6-2, 2.54), going 3 for 7 with a homer. Stults, though, comes into this matchup pitching well.

The left-hander is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA over his last four starts, winning 5-0 in Arizona on Aug. 24 behind seven innings of three-hit ball. He allowed six runs — three earned — and three homers over 6 13 innings of a 6-0 home loss to the Diamondbacks on June 3.

Kennedy enters having sandwiched a pair of good starts around a poor one. The right-hander pitched 6 13 shutout innings to win at Los Angeles on Aug. 30, allowed five runs over seven while not receiving a decision in a victory in San Francisco on Sept. 4, and beat the Dodgers again last Tuesday with another 7 13 scoreless innings.

He’s 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts against San Diego this season.

Related Posts:

• Kennedy, D-backs open big series with Padres

With the Diamondbacks and Padres on the fringe of the playoff race, it’s safe to say one of these teams will no longer be there when this three-game series concludes.

The visiting Padres are further back in the hunt for the second wild-card spot in the NL, but they may have a good chance to make up some ground starting Tuesday night considering their recent performances against the D-backs.

San Diego (71-76) trails St. Louis by six games for the second berth while Arizona (72-74) is 4 12 back. With a handful of teams in front of them, it is going to be difficult for the Padres or Diamondbacks to jump into playoff position, especially for the club that loses this series.

“You look (at the scoreboard), but just looking isn’t going to help,” outfielder Jason Kubel told the Diamondbacks’ official website. “You have to worry about what’s going on with you before you scoreboard watch and worry about what other people are doing. First thing is winning games.”

San Diego has been doing that over the past month, going 19-6 in its last 25 games. The Padres are 5-1 against the Diamondbacks over that stretch and have won eight of nine meetings — including six straight at Chase Field — after losing four of the first six.

The Padres took two of three at home from the Rockies this past weekend, blowing a six-run lead late Sunday before winning 12-11 on Yonder Alonso’s RBI single in the ninth inning.

Alonso went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and is batting .429 (9 for 21) while driving in eight runs in his past six games. He’s hitting .259 with 10 RBIs in 14 games against the D-backs this season, including 4 for 9 with a homer off scheduled starter Ian Kennedy (13-11, 4.21 ERA).

“We feel good about ourselves and where we are headed,” Alonso said.

The Diamondbacks have struggled to a 6-7 mark this month, avoiding a three-game sweep at home Sunday with a 10-2 rout of the NL West-leading Giants.

Justin Upton continued his recent strong play with a solo homer and two-run double. He’s batting .333 with three home runs and seven RBIs over his last seven games, with two of the homers coming over the weekend.

“Just trying to get some good pitches to hit, be a little more patient, see the ball over the middle of the plate and put a good swing on it,” Upton said. “I’ve tried to stay positive all year and keep going. Stringing together a couple of good days is nice.”

Upton has had success in his career against Padres starter Eric Stults (6-2, 2.54), going 3 for 7 with a homer. Stults, though, comes into this matchup pitching well.

The left-hander is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA over his last four starts, winning 5-0 in Arizona on Aug. 24 behind seven innings of three-hit ball. He allowed six runs — three earned — and three homers over 6 13 innings of a 6-0 home loss to the Diamondbacks on June 3.

Kennedy enters having sandwiched a pair of good starts around a poor one. The right-hander pitched 6 13 shutout innings to win at Los Angeles on Aug. 30, allowed five runs over seven while not receiving a decision in a victory in San Francisco on Sept. 4, and beat the Dodgers again last Tuesday with another 7 13 scoreless innings.

He’s 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts against San Diego this season.

Related Posts:

• Kennedy, D-backs open big series with Padres

With the Diamondbacks and Padres on the fringe of the playoff race, it’s safe to say one of these teams will no longer be there when this three-game series concludes.

The visiting Padres are further back in the hunt for the second wild-card spot in the NL, but they may have a good chance to make up some ground starting Tuesday night considering their recent performances against the D-backs.

San Diego (71-76) trails St. Louis by six games for the second berth while Arizona (72-74) is 4 12 back. With a handful of teams in front of them, it is going to be difficult for the Padres or Diamondbacks to jump into playoff position, especially for the club that loses this series.

“You look (at the scoreboard), but just looking isn’t going to help,” outfielder Jason Kubel told the Diamondbacks’ official website. “You have to worry about what’s going on with you before you scoreboard watch and worry about what other people are doing. First thing is winning games.”

San Diego has been doing that over the past month, going 19-6 in its last 25 games. The Padres are 5-1 against the Diamondbacks over that stretch and have won eight of nine meetings — including six straight at Chase Field — after losing four of the first six.

The Padres took two of three at home from the Rockies this past weekend, blowing a six-run lead late Sunday before winning 12-11 on Yonder Alonso’s RBI single in the ninth inning.

Alonso went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and is batting .429 (9 for 21) while driving in eight runs in his past six games. He’s hitting .259 with 10 RBIs in 14 games against the D-backs this season, including 4 for 9 with a homer off scheduled starter Ian Kennedy (13-11, 4.21 ERA).

“We feel good about ourselves and where we are headed,” Alonso said.

The Diamondbacks have struggled to a 6-7 mark this month, avoiding a three-game sweep at home Sunday with a 10-2 rout of the NL West-leading Giants.

Justin Upton continued his recent strong play with a solo homer and two-run double. He’s batting .333 with three home runs and seven RBIs over his last seven games, with two of the homers coming over the weekend.

“Just trying to get some good pitches to hit, be a little more patient, see the ball over the middle of the plate and put a good swing on it,” Upton said. “I’ve tried to stay positive all year and keep going. Stringing together a couple of good days is nice.”

Upton has had success in his career against Padres starter Eric Stults (6-2, 2.54), going 3 for 7 with a homer. Stults, though, comes into this matchup pitching well.

The left-hander is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA over his last four starts, winning 5-0 in Arizona on Aug. 24 behind seven innings of three-hit ball. He allowed six runs — three earned — and three homers over 6 13 innings of a 6-0 home loss to the Diamondbacks on June 3.

Kennedy enters having sandwiched a pair of good starts around a poor one. The right-hander pitched 6 13 shutout innings to win at Los Angeles on Aug. 30, allowed five runs over seven while not receiving a decision in a victory in San Francisco on Sept. 4, and beat the Dodgers again last Tuesday with another 7 13 scoreless innings.

He’s 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts against San Diego this season.

Related Posts:

• Kennedy, D-backs open big series with Padres

Arizona’s Ian Kennedy and San Diego’s Clayton Richard have both struggled with inconsistency this season.

However, that has not been the case for each when facing the other’s ballclub.

Kennedy and Richard each look to continue their respective success against their opponent when the visiting Padres try to match a season high with a sixth consecutive victory Saturday night against the Diamondbacks.

Kennedy (11-10, 4.24 ERA) is 6-0 with a 2.34 ERA in nine starts versus San Diego, including 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in two this season. The right-hander, though, wasn’t at his best July 4 when he allowed four runs and nine hits in seven innings of an 8-6 home loss to the Padres.

He gave up 11 runs – eight earned – and four homers over 10 innings while losing his two previous starts overall before yielding a run and overcoming five walks in six innings of an 8-1 victory at Houston on Sunday.

“I put a lot of hitters in hitters’ counts and just luckily got out of it,” Kennedy told the Diamondbacks’ official website.

Kennedy is 3-0 with a 3.98 ERA in his last five home starts in which he’s received an average 8.53 runs of support.

Richard (10-12, 3.73) is 4-0 with a 3.89 ERA in six starts versus Arizona, including 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA in two 2012 outings. He allowed two runs in 8 2-3 innings of a 6-2 win July 2 at Chase Field, where he is 2-0 in three starts despite a 5.00 ERA.

Though the left-hander is 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA in four road starts since that victory at Arizona, he hopes to build on Sunday’s effort when he gave up a run in eight innings of a 7-1 home win over San Francisco.

“He continues to go out and pound the strike zone and get ahead of guys,” teammate Cameron Maybin told the Padres’ official website. “He’s just fearless. You love playing behind a guy like that.”

Richard looks to help San Diego (57-70) continue its success after winning 5-0 at Arizona on Friday. Eric Stults threw seven strong innings and drove in a career-best three runs with a pair of two-out hits for the Padres, who have outscored the Diamondbacks 35-19 during a franchise-best five-game winning streak at Chase Field.

San Diego outfielder Chris Denorfia, who hit a solo homer and drove in two runs Friday, is batting .425 (17 for 40) in 12 games at Arizona. He’s 3 for 9 against Kennedy.

Chris Young had two of the four hits for the Diamondbacks, who have dropped five of their last six series openers.

Arizona slugger Justin Upton, who was reported to have been claimed off waivers by an unidentified team this week, could miss a fourth straight game because of a nagging hamstring injury.

“We’re going to give him another day,” manager Kirk Gibson told the Diamondbacks’ official website.

Though Upton is batting .273 with a disappointing nine homers and 49 RBIs, he is 5 for 11 with three RBIs in his last three games. He’s 5 for 15 versus Richard.

Related Posts:

• Kennedy getting in a groove, as are D-backs
• Kennedy looks to turn around vs. Padres
• Kennedy, D-backs look to rebound vs. Rockies
• Kennedy, D-backs take on ailing Phillies
• Kennedy looks to guide D-backs past Cubs

Jaime Garcia’s return to the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation may be just days away, and that means someone has to go. If Joe Kelly pitches anything like he did in his latest start, Mike Matheny’s decision shouldn’t be too difficult.

The rookie looks to bounce back from perhaps his worst performance in the majors in what could be his final shot in the rotation Tuesday night, when St. Louis opens a three-game series with the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kelly (2-5, 3.47 ERA) got the call from Triple-A Memphis when Garcia went down with a left shoulder sprain in early June, and included in his first 11 major league appearances is a stretch of seven straight quality starts.

That run ended when he allowed three runs and 12 baserunners over 5 2-3 innings Aug. 3 against Milwaukee, and he was even less effective Wednesday. The right-hander was charged with seven runs – four earned – and nine hits over five innings in a 15-0 loss to San Francisco.

Not exactly the best time for a rough outing considering Garcia could make his first start in the majors since June 5 on Sunday.

“When I’m scheduled to pitch, I pitch,” Kelly told the team’s official website when asked about such speculation. “I don’t look into that at all, really.”

The Cardinals (62-53) open a nine-game homestand Tuesday and are in the midst of a stretch of 16 of 19 at Busch Stadium, while the Diamondbacks just finished their lone home series in a span of 19 games. Arizona salvaged the finale against major league-best Washington 7-4 on Sunday as five of its six hits went for two bases.

The Diamondbacks (58-57) are within striking distance of both the top spot in the NL West and wild-card leaders Atlanta and Pittsburgh, but manager Kirk Gibson isn’t pleased with a team that’s made 10 errors in its last seven games.

“We have to play a cleaner game,” Gibson said Sunday prior to Arizona’s 30th game in 31 days. “There is a bit of fatigue, so there are going to be mistakes. We’re trying not to, and we moved on very quickly. It’s very frustrating for everybody, but we move on and get back after it. We’ve lost some tough games.”

Ian Kennedy’s latest start was perhaps his toughest – and unquestionably his shortest – of the season. Arizona gave the right-hander a 2-0 cushion in the first, but Kennedy (10-9, 4.34) immediately surrendered the lead and wound up allowing six runs over four innings in a 7-6 defeat.

“I just didn’t execute at all tonight,” Kennedy told the team’s official website. “It’s frustrating. We’re trying to go for this NL West race, and to pitch like that was not acceptable. I can’t say how frustrating this is.”

That’s likely how he felt May 8 versus St. Louis, when he gave up six runs in the first two innings before settling down to go seven in a 6-1 loss. That dropped Kennedy to 1-2 with a 10.13 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.

St. Louis swept that three-game set in the desert and has outscored Arizona 33-17 while winning five straight in the series.

Three of the Cardinals’ eight homers against the Diamondbacks in May came from Carlos Beltran, who seems to torment Arizona regardless of where he’s playing. The NL RBI leader with 83, Beltran is hitting .431 with a 1.338 OPS in 15 games against the Diamondbacks – while wearing three different uniforms – since 2011.

Justin Upton, on the other hand, hasn’t enjoyed facing St. Louis. His .204 career average versus the Cardinals is his lowest against any NL team, though like the rest of the Diamondbacks, he’s never faced Kelly.

Related Posts:

• Corbin takes the mound against Padres
• Saunders off DL to take mound against Cubs
• Kennedy looks to bounce back vs. Cardinals
• Jimmy Rollins Calls Out Phillies Fans For Being Too Quiet During Game 2 of NLDS Against Cardinals
• Matt Holliday: St. Louis Cardinals slugger takes hard stance against steroid abusers

While the NL West looked like a two-team race less than two weeks ago, the surging Arizona Diamondbacks have suddenly joined the party.

The Diamondbacks try to continue their ascent up the standings Friday night in the opener of a three-game set in Philadelphia, where they’ve lost nine of 10 to the Phillies.

Third-place Arizona (54-51) sat seven games out of first place on July 21 but has climbed to within two of division-leading San Francisco and 1 12 of second-place Los Angeles. Though poor play from both the Giants and Dodgers has certainly helped, the Diamondbacks have won 10 of 13 while batting .283 – including a .367 mark with runners in scoring position.

Arizona is coming off its first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in five seasons, capped by Wednesday’s 4-0 victory. Rookie Patrick Corbin threw six strong innings while Miguel Montero and Chris Johnson both went deep.

“We pitched very well, we swung the bats very well, we hit a couple of home runs virtually every game, so our guys are coming together,” manager Kirk Gibson told the team’s official website. “It’s very nice, it’s a good feeling. They’ve worked hard to fight their way through and get here.”

Acquired from Houston on Sunday, Johnson went 6 for 11 with two homers and seven RBIs at Chavez Ravine. He’s batting just .256 with one RBI and 14 strikeouts in 11 career games at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies (47-58) have outscored the Diamondbacks 65-22 during their 9-1 home stretch in the series.

Philadelphia returns home after taking two of three at Washington, falling 3-0 in Thursday’s series finale. The last-place Phillies, who sent Shane Victorino to the Dodgers and Hunter Pence to the Giants in separate deals before Tuesday’s deadline, collected just three singles Thursday.

“I think people will still come to see us play,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “I hope they do, because I think we’re definitely going to keep trying to improve our team, and keep trying to improve what we’ve got.”

Ryan Howard was held out of the starting lineup Thursday before striking out as a pinch-hitter. He’s struck out 11 times during a 1-for-16 slump.

Howard is 0 for 6 with three strikeouts lifetime against Ian Kennedy (9-8, 4.20 ERA), who’s won a season-best three consecutive starts while compiling a 2.42 ERA and fanning 23 in 22 1-3 innings.

“My command has been better,” he said. “Being ahead of guys, it makes a big difference. I watched things on film and tried to think of drills we did in the past. It was getting frustrating, but it’s working out now.”

Kennedy gave up three homers to the New York Mets’ Ike Davis but was otherwise superb Saturday, scattering seven hits and striking out nine over 6 1-3 innings of a 6-3 win. The right-hander’s 18 long balls allowed are just one fewer than his total from 2011.

Kennedy is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA over three career starts against the Phillies. He threw a three-hitter against them during a 4-0 win April 25, 2011, then gave up three runs over three innings during a rain-shortened road outing last Aug. 18 as Arizona fell 4-1.

Philadelphia counters with Joe Blanton (8-9, 4.59). The right-hander suffered a hard-luck loss Saturday, yielding two runs and four hits while striking out seven in as many innings during a 2-1 defeat at Atlanta.

Blanton has been knocked around at home of late, going 1-3 with a 6.05 ERA over his last six starts there. He is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA over two career starts against the Diamondbacks, though he hasn’t faced them since 2009.

Blanton has had his way with Aaron Hill, limiting him to one hit in 15 at-bats. Jason Kubel has also struggled in the matchup, going 1 for 9.

Related Posts:

• Cahill, D-backs look to rebound vs. Phillies
• Surging D-backs take on lowly Phillies
• D-backs take on NL-worst Astros at home
• Kennedy looks to guide D-backs past Cubs
• Kennedy, D-backs look to rebound vs. Rockies

PHOENIX — Ian Kennedy appears to be settling into the sort of groove that enabled him to win 21 games last season. Just in time.

Kennedy has won three straight starts after making a few mechanical tweaks, and even giving up three bases-empty home runs to the Mets Ike Davis could not dim his mood after the Diamondbacks seventh victory of the homestand, a 6-3 win that brought the D-backs another game closer to the Giants in the NL West.

Davis hit bases-empty homers in the second, fourth and sixth innings, the first two on fastballs that struck the batter’s eye at Chase Field.

The third at-bat, I hung a curveball to try something different, Kennedy said to laughter.

I threw good ones and he fouled them off. I hung one, and it still didnt make a difference. I can laugh about it now. Its almost jaw-dropping. … Ive never given up three to the same guy. He made SportsCenter.

For Kennedy, it’s all about fastball command, and that starts with finding a consistent release point. He and pitching coach Charlie Nagy got together after an 8-1 loss to the Cubs in the first game after the All-Star break, and they seem to have found a fix.

Kennedys fastball is staying down, and he is getting ahead of hitters, which makes his changeup and curveball that much more effective.

It was kind of getting frustrating, especially after that start in Chicago. I watched things on film and tried to think of drills we did in the past. Kind of bearing down on things, Kennedy said.

Everything builds off that fastball. When you have the release point down, you have the off-speed stuff.

Kennedy has given up six earned runs in 22 13 innings in his last three outings while striking out 23, including nine Saturday. He slammed his glove in the dugout when he was removed with a 6-3 lead with one out in the seventh inning after throwing 107 pitches, but he said afterward not to read anything into it.

Gibby (manager Kirk Gibson) knows we are all competitors. Its always frustrating when you come out in the middle of an inning, Kennedy said.

If I’m ever happy with coming out in the middle of an inning, then I should probably stop pitching. Thats just the competitive part of us that we dont ever want to come out, really.

Kennedy traditionally has gotten stronger as the season has gone on, and if the trend continues, he could be a difference-maker as the D-backs (52-50) chase the Giants and Dodgers in the NL West and L.A., Pittsburgh, Atlanta and St. Louis in the race for the two wild-card berths.

Kennedy (9-8) is now 21-6 with a 2.95 ERA in 36 career starts after the All-Star break. He will miss the Dodgers on the D-backs 10-game road trip that begins Monday, but he is scheduled to face both the Phillies and Pirates in the final two series on the trip.

His second-half success probably has a lot to do with his work ethic and his time spent in the weight room, but he had no ready explanation.

Catcher Miguel Montero, who has caught 19 of Kennedys 21 starts this season, also is on a hot streak, taking his turn picking up the offense.

Montero had a two-run homer in a three-run fourth inning to give the D-backs a 6-2 lead after walking and scoring from first base on Ryan Wheelers double to the fence in right-center field in a two-run second.

It was an inning of firsts. Monteros homer was his first hit in six at-bats against Mets starter Chris Young, who lasted only four innings. Wheelers double was his first major league extra-base hit.

Since July 7, Montero is 21 for 61, a .344 batting average, with four doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs.

He is swinging the bat well, Gibson said.

Gerardo Parra had three singles and two RBIs and Aaron Hill had an RBI double as the D-backs reached six runs for the seventh time in an offensive-minded homestand that ends against the Mets on Sunday. The D-backs have 65 runs and 87 hits in nine games and had their own three-homer guy just a week ago, when Jason Kubel hit three against the Astros on July 21.

The D-backs will continue to take all the offense they can get, but Kennedy is pitching as if he will not need as much going forward.

Related Posts:

• Kennedy, D-backs look to rebound vs. Rockies
• Kennedy, D-backs take on ailing Phillies
• D-backs trying to close gap with Giants
• Kennedy looks to guide D-backs past Cubs
• Kennedy hopes to find groove vs. Nationals