Joe Kennedy

2013

There was no outlook written for Joe Kennedy.

2007

A shoulder injury sidelined Kennedy for three months, but the departure of Barry Zito has the A's talking about moving Kennedy back into the rotation (much more likely still following the signing of Alan Embree). He entered 2006 having made 51 starts the past two seasons, so it's something he's done before. The A's are pretty notorious for using a fifth starter only when needed, particulary in April, so some patience will be required.

2006

Kennedy pitched reasonably effectively in a variety of spots for the A's following a trade from Colorado. He figures to serve in a similar role in 2006, which is more valuable in real life than fantasy.

2005

After high expectations and an 18-31 record in three seasons in Tampa, Kennedy somehow put the pieces together in Colorado of all places. His 163 hits in 162.3 IP in a roomy stadium say this was more than a fluke. Still, acquiring any Colorado pitcher is an enormous risk and Kennedy is no exception.

2004

Want to know how up-and-down Kennedy's year was? On May 5, he threw a one-hit shutout at Detroit, posting a game score of 90, tied for best in the AL last year. In his very ... next ... start, Kennedy gave up 10 runs on 13 hits in four-plus innings at Minnesota, good for a game score of minus-5, worst in the league last season. Wow. It was a tough year for Kennedy, who lost a month due to a shoulder injury, and was so ineffective afterward (0-5, 7.33 in nine starts after coming off the DL) that he was sent to the bullpen for the rest of the year. Kennedy has very severe lefty-righty splits (.230 BA, .686 OPS versus lefties, with one homer every 42 AB; .324, .906 versus righties, with a tater every 26 AB). Kennedy was traded to Colorado in the offseason. His value was already shaky to begin with; now that he's in Colorado, it's pretty much gone.

2003

Kennedy got stretched from a 20-start, 5.9 innings/start debut workload in 2001 (at the age of 22) to a 30-start, 6.6 innings/start workload in 2002 (five complete games), with essentially the same ERA (4.44 in 2001, 4.53 in 2002). Continued good WHIP numbers, but we're still concerned about his low strikeout rate (a below-average 6.0 K's per 9 IP in 2001, and it dropped to 5.0 in 2002). He'll be a fixture in the Rays' rotation, perhaps even No. 1 on the staff, if healthy. However, with that low K rate, lots of balls get put into play behind him, and he therefore needs a great defense behind him to put up really good numbers. Tampa Bay doesn't have that yet. Bid on Kennedy as if he was a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher on a sub-.500 team, which is where he is in terms of his development right now.