Kyle Kendrick Faces Final Tune-Up vs. Rangers Before Opening Day Start

The Colorado Rockies agreed to terms with free agent pitcher Kyle Kendrick this offseason to round out the rotation. Little did everyone know, he would be the teams starting pitcher for Opening Day.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss decided to go with the veteran as the teams Opening Day starter earlier in the spring, referring to him as “someone who can execute a gameplan.”

"“We’ve got a guy that works like a surgeon out there,” Weiss said. “That’s his M.O. He’s going to add and subtract, pitch both sides of the plate. He’s going to use the hitters’ aggressiveness against them. He’s an intelligent pitcher that can execute a gameplan, and that’s what we expect to see from him.”"

Kendrick will take to the mound for his final Spring Training start of 2015, facing the Texas Rangers in Cactus League play. So far this spring, Kendrick has pitched fairly well, collecting a record of 2-1 with an ERA of 3.52 in a total of five starts. Kendrick, admitting he is not an overpowering pitcher, pitches to contact which keeps the defense involved. After all, the Rockies do have an impressive defense behind Kendrick, featuring of Gold Glover’s such as Nolan Arenado, Troy Tulowitzki, and D.J. LeMahieu. Justin Morneau isn’t no slouch, either. Oh, and there is a guy by the name of Carlos Gonzalez in the outfield.

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His last start, however, was the roughest one of the spring. Over 4.1 innings pitched, Kendrick issued two walks, yielding eight hits which resulted in four runs-three earned while striking out two. One thing that has been a bit of a concern this spring for Kendrick is his opponents average. Kendrick is allowing the opposition to hit .328 off him in five appearances.

Kyle had an impressive go-of-it back on Mar. 10 against the Seattle Mariners, pitching two innings of scoreless ball. Over those two innings, he gave up just two hits while striking out three. Here’s what Kyle had to say about the outing.

Pitching to contact and throwing strikes is the game Kendrick sticks to, but giving up the long-ball has been a reoccurring theme. Over his eight-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies, Kendrick has given up a total of 143 home runs – 25 of those coming in 2014. We all saw what a diaster Franklin Morales was last season, giving up the long-ball seemingly every game. He [Morales] gave up one less home run than Kendrick, but then again, Kendrick pitched roughly 56 1/3 more innings than Morales. JUST KEEP THE BALL IN THE BALLPARK, ALRIGHT?

Tune-in to watch Kyle Kendrick make his final Spring Training start against the Texas Rangers Wednesday afternoon, scheduled for 2:10 PM MST.