Philadelphia Phillies: 6 recent trade deadline misses
By Tim Boyle
4. Philadelphia Phillies trade deadline miss: Ian Kennedy.
Desperate for a closer, the 2021 Phillies brought in starting pitcher Kyle Gibson and relief pitcher Ian Kennedy from the Texas Rangers in 2021 to help fortify their staff. Gibson was an All-Star for the Rangers and quickly descended into his below-average self once he did join the Phillies. But with an extra year of control left and prospect Hans Crouse coming over in the deal as well, it wasn’t a complete bust.
What was a bust was the performance from Kennedy. Although the 3-1 record and 4.13 ERA don’t really look better, there are other far more frightening numbers. Kennedy had a 6.21 FIP with the Phillies which basically suggests he should have had a much worse ERA. The cause of this are the abundance of home runs he allowed. In only 24 innings for Philadelphia, Kennedy served up 7 meatballs to opposing hitters. That translates to a rate of 2.6 per nine innings.
Kennedy was clearly not the answer the Phillies bullpen was looking for in 2021. It was an easy decision to let the veteran walk in free agency.
Because of how recent the trade took place and some of those involved, we can’t yet classify this as a win or loss for either club. Everyone can agree, however, that Kennedy was a bad trade deadline addition.