Royals hopeful Kennedy’s experiences as ‘opener’ will serve as springboard to success
The portion of the Kansas City Royals’ outside-the-box pitching plan involving relief pitcher Ian Kennedy went about as well as could’ve been expected.
The full plan included Kennedy serving as an “opener” in front of right-hander Jakob Junis. However, back spasms prevented Junis from pitching in relief and eventually forced him onto the injured list.
Kennedy, 35, spent all his professional career as a starter before last season, when he saved 30 games. He struggled in his first eight relief appearances this season, prompting the Royals to seek a creative remedy.
Saturday, as an opener, Kennedy tossed two scoreless innings in which he allowed just one hit and one walk. He struck out three and successfully navigated the meat of a dangerous Minnesota Twins lineup.
The structure and predictability of knowing precisely when he’d pitch helped Kennedy significantly. He also attempted to make some mechanical adjustments in order to improve his command.
“When Mike brought it up the other day, he asked my comfort level with it and I said, ‘I’ve done it my whole life for a thousand times,’ or whatever I said,” Kennedy said. “Yeah, I’m familiar with it. I’m more familiar with that than going in other parts of games.”
Last season, Kennedy tied for the fourth-most saves in the American League and became the fifth closer in franchise history to record a 30-save season.
While he pitched in multiple relief roles early in the season under former manager Ned Yost, Kennedy settled into the closer’s role at the end of May. He had an MLB-best 28 saves and the AL’s third-best save percentage (88.2) from May 30 through the end of the season.
Kennedy has been supportive of manager Mike Matheny’s plan to use his top relievers in high-leverage situations regardless of which inning they arise.
At the same time, Kennedy admitted the change in role has been more difficult than he expected.
“At the beginning of (last) year I didn’t really know where I was throwing, but I kind of had a feeling with Ned,” Kennedy said. “He was more open to it, especially when I was just fresh in the bullpen. He would openly tell me, ‘You’re probably going to throw the eighth inning,‘ or if he’s going to bring me in early.
“Mike’s been doing the same thing. But throwing the ninth inning, you watch the game all the way through. You know, in the eighth inning you have your routine. You’re up by pretty much even five or six, and Ned was throwing me.”
This season, Kennedy has thrown multiple-inning relief outings as well as one-inning outings. He’s entered a game as early as the sixth this season out of the bullpen.
“This year, I told Mike it’s been a little bit of a grind at first trying to see how lineups are going to match up — if we’re up by a certain amount, or if we’re down by a certain amount, how to start my routine,” Kennedy said.
“I’ve been open with him, telling him it’s been a little bit harder than I thought just trying to get (a feel for) that role. It’s not an excuse, just you’ve got to pitch better. Everyone else is doing well, so I can do the same thing. I’ve been talking to him about it.”
In his first eight appearances (8.0 innings) this season, Kennedy allowed seven earned runs 10 hits, including six home runs.
Kennedy was to be available in a typical bullpen role Monday. The Royals have not yet decided who will start Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds with Junis on the IL. Using an opener could be a possibility.
“I think the hope is just getting the confidence (makes a difference),” Matheny said. “The same thing as when you kind of jostle the lineup and you get a guy into a spot where he maybe feels a little more comfortable and they see a little success. You hope to just kind of build on that as a platform to put him in different roles or different spots in the lineup.”
Matheny hopes Kennedy’s shift into an opener role and the familiarity of starting allowed Kennedy to “feel good again on the rubber.” But the manager doesn’t view that as a role in which he would use him exclusively, by any means.
“You hope he just builds on it now to say, ‘OK, I feel like I’ve got some things lined up mechanically or how I’m approaching with my stuff,’ and then you take it into whatever role,” Matheny said. “That’s ideal. Now, ideal and reality can be two different things. We’ll keep watching and try to make adjustments if something doesn’t look right.
“The whole goal is how do we put guys in positions where they can be successful. That’s not always clear.”
