Ian Kennedy

He signed with the team in mid-August for a $2.25 million signing bonus, roughly $750,000 more than expected for a 21st overall draft selection, and was assigned to the Class A Short-Season Staten Island Yankees of the New York–Penn League.

He was the 39th player in USC history to become a first-round MLB draft selection.

Ian Patrick Kennedy (born December 19, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Kennedy was born on December 19, 1984, in Huntington Beach, California.

From a young age, he was known for his natural pitching talent, particularly in finding his target with a fastball.

Kennedy began gaining a reputation as a power pitcher when he was a freshman at La Quinta High School in Westminster, California, pitching a five-inning perfect game.

As a sophomore, he posted a 10–2 win–loss record with a 1.33 earned run average (ERA).

As a junior, he boasted a 0.38 ERA and recorded 168 strikeouts in 90 1⁄3 innings pitched, with a fastball speed hovering between 88 and 92 mph. As a batter, Kennedy also recorded seven home runs and 31 runs batted in (RBIs) that year.

He missed most of his senior season with a fractured patella but managed to put up an 8–0 record and a 0.43 ERA in the games that he did play.

Between his junior and senior year of high school, Kennedy played internationally with the 2002 US Junior National Team, with whom he went 1–0 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings.

Kennedy was tapped as the starting pitcher for the US team's bronze medal match at the 2002 World Junior Baseball Championship, where he took the win with only one earned run and 10 strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Kennedy graduated high school in 2003 with a 39–2 record.

The St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB) drafted Kennedy in the 14th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft, but he chose not to sign with the team, instead honoring his commitment to play college baseball for the University of Southern California (USC).

There, he followed Anthony Reyes as the team's pitching ace.

In 2004, he was the first freshman to make the top of the USC starting rotation since Randy Flores had done so in 1994.

He pitched 92 2⁄3 innings, striking out 120 batters and posting a 7–2 record with a 2.91 ERA.

At the end of the year, Kennedy was named to the Baseball America Freshman All-America Team.

That summer, he helped take the US College National Team to a gold medal at the World University Baseball Championship, putting up a 3–1 record with a 3.81 ERA and leading the team with 40 strikeouts.

Kennedy was credited with the win in the championship match against Japan, where he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

USC baseball coach Mike Gillespie opened the 2005 season with the intention of using Kennedy up to three times a week, pitching on Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays to limit the damage of the school's dearth of starting pitchers.

Pitching coach Dave Lawn, meanwhile, focused on improving Kennedy's command and stamina, which would allow him to pitch deeper into each game.

His sophomore year turned into a breakout season for Kennedy, who went 12–2 with a 2.54 ERA, earned consensus All-American honors, and helped lead the Trojans through the first round of the 2005 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

Ultimately, however, the Trojans fell to Oregon State at the Corvallis Super Regional and were eliminated from the tournament.

Kennedy, meanwhile, was named the Pac-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year after striking out 95 batters in his first 67 1⁄3 innings.

The Yankees selected him 21st overall in the 2006 MLB Draft and he quickly rose through the team's farm system, making his major league debut the next year.

Going into the 2006 college baseball season, USC lost many staples of its rotation to the MLB draft, including catcher Jeff Clement and third baseman Billy Hart, and Kennedy was called upon to be a leader for the younger members of the team.

That February, he came within one out of a no-hitter against Kansas before senior Ritchie Price recorded a hit in the ninth inning.

Ultimately, Kennedy could not repeat the success of the previous season, slumping to a 5–7 record with a 3.90 ERA in 2006.

Kennedy finished his college baseball career with a 24–12 record and a 3.09 ERA.

He came in third at the time for all-time USC strikeouts with 380, and was second in strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) with 10.99.

The New York Yankees selected Kennedy in the first round, 21st overall, of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft.

Kennedy made his professional baseball debut on September 6, 2006, pitching 2 2⁄3 innings against the Tri-City ValleyCats.

After playing one game for Staten Island, Kennedy spent the winter with the West Oahu CaneFires of the Hawaii Winter Baseball league.

In nine games there, including seven starts, he posted a 0–2 record and a 4.45 ERA, striking out 45 batters in 30 1⁄3 innings.

Between 2007 and 2023, he played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Philadelphia Phillies.

A standout pitcher at La Quinta High School in California, Kennedy played three seasons of college baseball for the USC Trojans.

Following his brief Staten Island outing, Kennedy was assigned to the Class A Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League to begin the 2007 season.

In 10 Class A starts, Kennedy posted a 6–1 record with a 1.29 ERA, striking out 72 batters in 63 innings and holding his opponents to a .183 batting average.

The Yankees traded Kennedy to the Diamondbacks after the 2009 season, and he became Arizona's ace, leading the National League in wins during the 2011 season.

The Royals moved Kennedy to the bullpen in 2019 after a series of injuries, and he found a new role as the team's closer, and he continued to work as a relief pitcher for the remainder of his career.