Ian Kennedy was
drafted by the
New York Yankees in the
2006 Major League Baseball Draft in the first round (21st overall). "I would like to go out and play," he said, "start my professional
career. The earlier the better. I imagine it's not going to be very long before I start. At least that's what I'm hoping. If it does take a while, I'm ready for that -- but I want to go out and play." Although he throws 90- 94 MPH, he still is able to thrive by using finesse to retire hitters.
Kennedy was previously drafted by the
St. Louis Cardinals in the 14th round (425th overall) of the
2003 Major League Baseball Draft, but he didn't sign with them. He joins
Randy Johnson,
Mark Prior,
Tom Seaver, and
Barry Zito on the list of
pitchers drafted out of USC.
Kennedy pitched 2.2 innnings for the
Staten Island Yankees of the
New York-Penn League, a short-season class A league, in 2006. In 2007, he began the season with the A
Tampa Yankees of the
Florida State League, posting a 6-1 record with a 1.29 ERA in 63.0 innings, while striking out 72 and only walking 22. He was promoted to the AA
Trenton Thunder of the
Eastern League, where he posted a 5-1 record with a 2.59 ERA in 48.2 innings, while striking out 57 and only walking 17.
On
July 24,
2007, Kennedy was promoted to the AAA
Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees. He has enjoyed success there, as well, posting a 1-0 record with a 1.06 ERA in three starts, striking out 19 and walking just 5. Kennedy will make his major league debut
September 1,
2007, in place of
Mike Mussina.
Ian Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia