Kendrick To Start On Saturday

The Philadelphia Phillies announced that Kyle Kendrick will get the start on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Phillies needed to fill Kendrick in for the fifth spot due to sending down Vance Worley.  The Phillies have a day off Thursday and many wondered whether they would skip the fifth spot in the roatation, but that will not happen.  Pitching coach Rich Dubee would like to give his starters as much rest as possible, he would like to give them extra rest whenever possible. 

One problem with Kendrick starting would be his limited innings.  He has been a bullpen pitcher for most of the year, besides making two spot starts and hasn't really been stretched out.  Since he hasn't been stretched out Kendrick believes he will only be able to throw around 65 pitches.  The Phillies seem to be happy if he can log that many pitches on Saturday.

Kendrick has made two starts this season, one went well and the other not so much.  In two starts he is 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA.  He threw five scoreless innings against Atlanta, but in his other start he allowed five runs in three innings against the Rockies.  He has been solid out of the bullpen, which has given the Phillies confidence in him.  The Phillies will hope to see the Kyle Kendrick that started against Atlanta and not Colorado when he makes his third start of the season Saturday.