Kyle Kendrick not so good, Charlie doesn't notice

Written by Mike Mariano | 20 July 2010

Anytime Kyle Kendrick is on the mound, all Phillies not from Houston, TX (his hometown) start cursing under their breath (or very loudly) with disdain.  Last night was one of those nights where Kyle does more than enough to further those negative emotions.  Five innings, Seven runs, Loss.  Sadly for Kendrick, it's not all his fault.  Uncle Charlie left Kendrick out there to die, but not by the merciful guillotine, no more like he let the heart of the Cardinals order tar and feather him on the mound.  Staked a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, you tell me when Charlie should have yanked his already shaky starter:

I don't know, maybe after the first 400+ ft. home run hit by King Albert?  No?  Okay, after the second one?  Nah, ok definitely after the third home run of the inning?!  Nope.  Not a quality start on this day.  Not sure what Charlie was thinking today, maybe he needed Kyle to eat innings and rest the bullpen.  I can't imagine why since we're fresh off the all-star break, but there's a chance right?

I find Kendrick to be a sad story.  He's fallen into that dreaded grouping of Philadelphia athletes whom the city has given up on.  I'm not talking about stars like Abreu or McNabb, but role players who the fans simply stop responding too.  The Todd Pinkstons and David Bells of the Philly sports world.  Kendrick is getting there and I hate watching these guys get dwindled down into nothing, I'd rather the organizations just ship them out.  It's depressing.

Getting to the must-win stage.  Can't afford to keep this free-falling rolling.  Eventually it will get to the point where we're too far behind...  (oh yeah - Ryan Howard - still scorching hot)