Written by Greg Fertel
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15 June 2007
My name is Hiroyo Kokubo, a newcomer and a fellow minor league Yankee fan who's soulmate is algebra. Of course, I like the major league Yankees too, but lets be honest, writing scouting reports about guys who are already superstars isn't as sweet as following the kids climbing up the ladder.
For example:
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees
A truly great hitter, has great power, has a great arm, athletic, arguably the best player in the league, will retire a first ballot HOFer.
Let us be blunt, what fun is writing (or reading) that? Not that I don't enjoy seeing what ARod has been doing this season or seeing his HR totals grow, but that is beside the point. Now, I doubt people read this blog to see a random writer discuss how the mailman was late today, or that it is sunny in my area right now. I'm sure people want baseball news, so as an introduction, I'm going to talk a bit about Ian Kennedy, and my opinions. I am sure EJ has a much better, well researched scouting report about him, so I will not go indepth about his stuff and projection. Instead, I'll focus more about things that usually aren't discussed in scouting reports.
Ian Kennedy was the Yankees first round pick in the 2006 draft, and barring a trade (which I doubt will happen anytime soon) one pitcher he will likely be linked for a long time is Daniel Bard of the Red Sox organization. They are by no means similar in pitching styles...in fact, they are completely opposites of each other. Bard is a flamethrower who consistently hits the high 90's but has some trouble keeping consistent command and control. Kennedy is often defined as a "finesse pitcher" who had a fastball that was in the low 90's, and relied more on his pinpoint command and control of all his pitches.
A lot of the first reactions to the pick were quite negative. With Kennedy coming off a rather average (although not bad in any way) season compared to his phenomenal freshman and sophomore years along with rumors that he had lost some velocity on his fastball, he did not look sweet enough for people who wanted stud power pitchers, or atleast a lefty. With Daniel Bard, the pitcher who could almost reach the scout loving "triple digit" with his fastball, still available, the frustration grew. While there definitely were a group who trusted Damon Oppenheimer and the Yankee scouting force, "why did the Yankees pick a finesse righty pitcher with their first pick, especially with a live arm like Bard still available (and let him slip to the Red Sox)!?" was a popular reaction at the time.
Kennedy did not sign early enough to pitch much in the 2006 regular season. Prospect rankings published that winter sometimes listed Bard in the top 100, but Kennedy wasn't even a choice for honerable mention. With Joba Chamberlain stealing the thunder at Hawaii that winter, it took Kennedy almost one year after he was drafted to silence those who disliked the pick. Kennedy's phenomenal start in Tampa (6-1 1.29 ERA in 63.0IP with 72K) and well deserved promotion to Trenton, coupled with Daniel Bard's abismal start at Lancaster (he was later put on DL, then reassigned in low-A Greenville) certainly helped, and there are rumors (I have not confirmed it yet) that he has regained his sophomore velocity, which further adds hope to him.
I am not going to conclude now that Kennedy is a better prospect and will have a better MLB career than Bard, because that will be like declaring the division race being over on May 30th, like some writers like to do. But as of now, you can say that Kennedy has successfully outperformed Bard, and those who were calling for Bard over Kennedy been quiet for a while. Other than both being college pitchers drafted in the first round of the 2006 draft by the Yankees and Red Sox, there isn't really any similarities between them. Also, contrary to the common belief, they both weren't top picks by each team...the Red Sox had picked Jason Place with their first pick (27th), then picked Daniel Bard at 28th, which was ironically the compensation from losing Johnny Damon to the Yankees through FA. Of course, it was consecutive picks so it really didn't change regardless of who was chosen first, but it seems like between casual Yankee minor league fans, the existence of Jason Place is often forgotten (and I'll be honest, I was one of those people too).
Still, in the end, the details will not matter. Regardless of playing styles or talent, due to the teams they were drafted by, Ian Kennedy will be always compared to Daniel Bard, JB Cox will be compared to Craig Hansen, and Phil Hughes will be compared to Clay Buchholz or Jon Lester (and don't forget Jose Tabata and Fernando Martinez for the other New York competition). But what is wrong about it? Nothing, that is what makes following prospects fun...at least, it does for me.
