Kyle Kendrick

Kyle Rodney Kendrick (born August 26, 1984 in Houston, Texas) is a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.

High school

Kendrick was a three-sport standout in football, basketball, and baseball at Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Washington. Kendrick was drafted by the Phillies in the 7th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. Kendrick turned down the opportunity to play quarterback at Washington State University.

MLB career

2007

Kyle was first called up to the Phillies after pitcher Freddy Garcia was placed on the DL. Kendrick singled to right field in his first major league at-bat during his first major league appearance—an afternoon game at Citizens Bank Park against the Chicago White Sox on June 13, 2007. He pitched six innings and gave up three runs. Kendrick's father Morrie, who was in attendance, got a hand on (but did not catch) a foul ball during the game.

File:KendrickStretch.jpg

Kendrick during the 2008 regular season

Kyle's first loss came on July 18, 2007, against the Dodgers, 5–4. His performance in the 2007 regular season was widely considered to be a key to the Philadelphia Phillies' late-season surge, as Kendrick finished the year 10–4, with the Phillies winning in 13 out of Kendrick's 18 appearances. Kendrick was the Phillies' number two starter in the National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies.

Kendrick (7 points) came in fifth, and lost out to Ryan Braun (128 points) in the vote for the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award by 488 major league players and 30 managers.

2008

Spring training

Before the 2008 season, the Phillies (led by pitcher Brett Myers) pulled a prank on Kendrick by telling him that he was traded to Japan for a player named Kobayashi Iwamura. When Kendrick realized it was only a prank, he was relieved and Myers repeatedly shouted that he got "punked," referring to the popular TV show on MTV, Punk'd. "Kobayashi" referred to Takeru Kobayashi, the Japanese competitive-hot dog-eater, and "Iwamura" was referring to the last name of Tampa Bay Rays infielder Akinori Iwamura.

Regular season

Though Kendrick began the season as the Phillies' number four starter, he was arguably the most consistent member of the rotation. He posted a 2–2 record in April, went undefeated in May (2–0), and matched ace Cole Hamels in June with a 3–1 record. Though his ERA (4.59) was high through the first three months, he allowed only eleven home runs in that time, mostly using his effective sinker. He struggled a bit in July, allowing five home runs and posting an ERA of 5.02, almost a point higher than June. His record after 20 games was 8–4, comparable to his 10–5 record in his 20 starts of 2007. Due to his struggles, Kendrick was not included on the Phillies post-season roster. Instead, he was sent to the Clearwater Threshers and participated in the Florida Instructional League to work on his change-up. While he was not added to the roster for the World Series, he did return to the team and was in uniform for the Series. Kendrick co-authored a World Series diary during the Series, giving his perspective, which was told to journalist Randy Miller and published in the Bucks County Courier Times

2010

During 2010 spring training, Kendrick competed against Jamie Moyer for the fifth spot in the starting rotation, but made the team as a relief pitcher. Before the season started, Joe Blanton was placed on the disabled list and Kendrick took his spot in the rotation. On July 20th, Kendrick was designated for assignment to the Phillies' AAA affiliate, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs

Personal life

In 2009, Kendrick became engaged to Survivor contestant Stephenie LaGrossa.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube