Ian Kennedy the Closer: How Did This Work?

Right, so...unless your name is John Smoltz or Dennis Eckersley, being a successful starter that's tapped to become a closer due to lack of options usually isn't a great point in your career. Look at Bud Norris, who, after being a semi-successful starter for Houston and Baltimore, got relief work around the leagues before being used in the ninth by the semi-competitive Cardinals last year.

...Bud Norris is not in the MLB right now. So it's not exactly a move that screams 'career longevity'.

So now we turn to Ian Kennedy. Kennedy won 21 games for the Diamondbacks in 2011, struck out 207 for the Padres in 2014, and was a crucial member of the Royals' post-championship teams. As a starter, he's been modest, but capable of big games. After a pair of disappointing seasons, the Royals realized that...with such electrifying starting options as Glenn Sparkman and Eric Skoglund in the mix, that there was no reason to keep Kennedy in the rotation. So, to the bullpen he went.

And after the team's initial choices for closer, Brad Boxberger and Wily Peralta, proved to be incapable, Kennedy got the job. Initially, I was puzzled by this, because I was unsure if Kennedy had anything left, or if this would be another harebrained move for them, but...I'll admit I was wrong.

Kennedy has 30 saves in 2018, the most by a Kansas City closer since Greg Holland's 32 in 2015. The funny thing about this 30 saves stat is that only 3 AL closers (Aroldis Chapman, Roberto Osuna and Brad Hand), have more than him. Even 2019 heroes like Taylor Rogers and Liam Hendriks have less, which is impressive for Kennedy, who's working with a 3.23 ERA and 71 strikeouts. For a first-time closer, this is not bad at all.

It's a good thing the Royals and Kennedy are making this work, because there's one year left on Kennedy's contract, and...it's better that he's doing something rather than stinking it up somewhere. Plus, the Royals aren't gonna have a lot of grade-A roster options for 2020, as Alex Gordon might decline his 2020 mutual option (or...not. I don't know), and the rest of the team has some very messy, inexperienced youth options filling major holes. I don't know if Kennedy's season in 2020 will be good, even for Kansas City, but I hope he can take this really nice year and build on it.

Coming Tonight: A future Hall of Famer, playing for a consistently fun non-competitive team.