Joe Kennedy (baseball player)

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**Joe Kennedy**

Oakland Athletics — No. 37
Relief Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
June 6, 2001 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006)
Record	39-52
ERA	4.79
Strikeouts	507

Joseph Darley (Joe) Kennedy (born May 24, 1979, in La Mesa, California) is an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Oakland Athletics. He throws left handed and bats right handed.

Kennedy graduated from high school in El Cajon, California, and attended Grossmont Junior College, making his major league debut on May 6, 2001 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

During three seasons, Kennedy pitched 72 consecutive starts before being relegated to the bullpen after suffering an arm injury in 2003. Traded to the Colorado Rockies before the 2004 season, Kennedy became the first Rockies starter to have a sub 4.00 ERA, setting a franchise record with a 3.66 ERA.

From 2001-04, Kennedy has posted a 27-38 record with 381 strikeouts and a 4.63 ERA in 610.1 innings pitched.

He is expected to be the 5th starter for the Oakland Athletics in the 2007 season.

[edit] Scouting

Kennedy has a bevy of pitches at his disposal, featuring a low-90's 4-seam fastball, an 88-90 MPH 2-seam fastball, a slow-moving curve, a diving slider, and, possibly his second-best pitch after his fastball, a deceptive changeup. His powerful delivery is at the 3/4-sidearm slot, which makes his pitches particularly hard for left-handed batters to pick up. Despite this, he remains successful at retiring both right and left-handed batters. After struggling somewhat as a spot-starter for the Athletics, he has found a home in the bullpen, where his opponents' average against is at .255 thus far in the 2006 season.

[edit] Trivia

On July 13, 2005, Kennedy, along with RHP Jay Witasick, was traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Eric Byrnes and minor league prospect Omar Quintanilla.