Kennedy Looks Perfect At AAA

Ian Kennedy is showing his toughness. After being sent down to the minors due to his horribly ineffective start to the 2008 season, Kennedy has thrown five perfect innings in his first start since being demoted. He has five strikeouts and obviously zero walks or hits. [60 pitches and 41 strikes] Looks like Ike has no intentions of having an extended stay at Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

More updates throughout the game.

UPDATE 8:30: 7 innings, 1 hit, 7 strikeouts, no walks

UPDATE 9:00: Kennedy's night is over after throwing 7.1 innings Kennedy gave up just the one hit, did not walk a batter but struck out eight. Kennedy went 5.1 innings pitching perfect ball before surrendering a hit.

Looks like Kennedy got the message, which is essentially you gotta earn your playing time, rook.

UPDATE FROM SWB BLOG:

Chad Jennings has some quotes from Kennedy on his blog. Suffice to say Kennedy's confidence was palpable tonight, and that this type of performance could have occurred just as easily in the big leaguese:

“I’m trying to say it humbly, but it doesn’t matter what I say, it’s going to come out cocky,” he said. “You just know. I woke up today and told my wife, I just have a feeling I’m going to make these guys look stupid.”

“It felt like it was getting better and better the last two outings, and then I got called into the office and told I was coming here,” Kennedy said. “I knew it was time, one of these times it was going to come out and I was going to have an outing like this, because I know it’s in me."

“I just felt like I could do no wrong,” Kennedy said. “Whether it was 2-0, I didn’t care, I could place a fastball away. I’ve been working on it every start, getting my mind set in the big leagues. I felt like I was getting better and better every time. It just led up to this. It was inevitable for me to do well. It was just a matter of time.”

Talking to him, I got the feeling Kennedy believed he would have had a night like this regardless of where he pitched. He woke up today expecting to make hitters -- any hitters -- look stupid. He was going to have a good night here or in the big leagues. He just happened to be here.

The curveball and how well he commands it from start to start may become the most crucial portion of Kennedy's development. According to Jennings, Kennedy had good control of his hook, set up by strong fastball location.