Boston Red Sox Sign Kyle Kendrick to a Minor-League Deal
Veteran pitcher Kyle Kendrick will receive another chance this year with the Boston Red Sox.
The Boston Red Sox have signed right-handed pitcher Kyle Kendrick to a minor-league deal. As Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors reports, the contract also comes with an invitation to Major League spring training. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald Tweets that Kendrick will make $1 million if he makes the majors and has multiple opt-out dates.
Kendrick, now 32, will bring quite a bit of experience to the Boston Red Sox. He first reached the major leagues way back in 2007 at the young age of 22. He served as a more-or-less mainstay in the Philadelphia Phillies’ rotation through the next eight seasons. Aside from spending half of 2011 in the bullpen and most of 2009 in the minors, he was a solid workhorse for the Phillies. Kendrick tallied 1,138 innings of work with a 4.42 earned run average over those years.
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The righty became a free agent after the 2014 season and inked a one-year contract with the Colorado Rockies. Unfortunately for both, Kendrick’s performance tanked that year. He only pitched 142 innings and saw his strikeout rate fall even further. Worse yet, Coors Field took a toll on him, and his home run per fly ball rate skyrocketed to an outlandish 17.3 percent.
Needless to say, run prevention was not the righty’s strength that season. His 6.32 earned run average came in as the worst in his career. Even Kendrick’s road earned run average of 5.24 was quite lackluster. FanGraphs value his work as one win worse than replacement level, clearly not worth the $5.5 million the Rockies paid him.
Kendrick then signed a minor-league deal with the Atlanta Braves that offseason, but he never made it out of their spring training camp. The pitcher then found a home with the Los Angeles Angels in their minor-league system and produced mostly uninspiring results. He split roughly 100 innings between rookie ball and Triple-A.
It is unlikely that Kendrick will make the Boston Red Sox’ Opening Day roster; and certainly, no expectation exists for him to be a highly productive member of their starting rotation. Instead, he will likely grant the Red Sox another depth option in case of injury.
At the very least, he could make a few starts should a doubleheader situation arise. Kendrick could also spend some time in the bullpen pitching long relief if needed. Whether or not Kyle Kendrick will make a comeback with the Boston Red Sox remains to be seen, but the odds are not in his favor.
