Assessing Kyle Kendrick

I said last night that Kyle Kendrick was one of the Phillies who needed to improve the most, and I suggested not so subtly that now might be a good time for it.  With the division rival Atlanta Braves in town, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at how Kendrick fared in the Phillies 5-4 series-opening win.

Kendrick’s line hardly tells the story.  He went 6.0 innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on six hits.  He also walked four while striking out two.  He threw 97 pitches, only 53 of them for strikes.  On the surface, it looks average.  Maybe that’s what it was.

But the line doesn’t tell you that Kendrick gave up all three runs in the first inning, then settled down to throw a quality start.  It doesn’t tell you that after that first inning, Kendrick only surrendered three hits the rest of the way.  And it really doesn’t show you that Kendrick was able to do enough to pick up a win without having his best stuff.

Kendrick has a long way to go before his struggles are over.  He’s still developing pitches to compliment his sinker, and until they are ready (his change-up, in particular) he is going to have nights where he gets knocked around.  That’s either because his other pitches are so hittable, or because he can’t throw those pitches for strikes and so hitters are waiting on the sinker.

But Kendrick’s strength was never his stuff.  His pitches are, when compared to other  Major Leaguers, about average.  His strength has always been his composure on the mound, and his ability to shake off a bad pitch, a bad inning, or a bad outing.  It’s what made him so good last year, but it’s been tangibly missing so far in the 2008 campaign.

It was certainly there in this game.

Tonight won’t be remembered as the night when Kendrick mastered another pitch.  It won’t be the turning point of his season, and it doesn’t guarantee the Phillies that reliable third starter they need Kendrick to be so desperately.  But it’s a good sign that he can still be effective even without his best stuff; that he’s still mentally tough enough to go out there, battle, keep his composure, and hand off a lead to this apparently dominating bullpen.  He still has some work to do, but tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.