Ian Kennedy’s 2015 was disappointing by many standards, as a subpar San Diego team led him to a 9-15 record with a 4.28 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.
He is usually a very durable pitcher, though he did have a brief DL stint with a hamstring strain early in the year, leading to his lowest innings total (168.1 IP) reached since he hit the majors as a starter in 2010. Kennedy still struck out 174 in those 168.1 innings, posting the best K/9 of his career (9.30) along with a healthy 3.61 SIERA.
The bad side of things: he was blasted with a 1.66 HR/9 and all of his pitches graded out with a negative value according to pitch f/x scores. Now the great news is that Kennedy will only be 31 this year and goes from the Padres, who ranked 26th in defensive runs saved (with -28) this past year, to the Royals, who were 2nd in the whole league with 56 runs saved.
He won’t magically turn into a stud, but his chances have never been better to have a great year. Consider that he's currently being taken as the 66th SP according to NFBC ADP data, around pick 256. This is a good spot considering the potential that he holds if he figures out a few things while playing for a team like the Royals.
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