Kyle Kendrick

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**Kyle Kendrick**

Philadelphia Phillies — No. 38
Starting Pitcher
Born: August 26, 1984 (1984-08-26) (age 23)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
June 13, 2007 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Selected MLB statistics (through June 6, 2008)
Win-Loss	15-6
Earned run average	4.26
Strikeouts	76
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (2007-present)

Kyle Rodney Kendrick (born August 26, 1984, in Houston, Texas) is a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies in Major League Baseball.

Kendrick was a three-sport standout in football, basketball, and baseball at Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Washington. Kendrick was drafted by the Phillies in the 7th round of the June 2003 MLB Draft. Kendrick turned down the opportunity to play quarterback at Washington State University.

Kyle was first called up to the Phillies after pitcher Freddy Garcia was placed on the DL. Kendrick singled to right field in his first major league at-bat during his first major league appearance - an afternoon game at Citizens Bank Park against the Chicago White Sox on June 13, 2007. He pitched six innings and gave up three runs. Kendrick's father Morrie, who was in attendance, got a hand on (but did not catch) a foul ball during the game.

Kyle's first loss came on July 18, 2007, against the Dodgers, 5-4.

Kendrick's performance in the 2007 regular season was widely considered to be a key to the Philadelphia Phillies late-season surge, as Kendrick finished the year 10-4, with the Phillies winning 13 out of Kendrick's 18 games. Kendrick was the Phillies number 2 starter in the off-season series against the Colorado Rockies.

Kendrick (7 points) came in fifth, and lost out to Ryan Braun (128 points) in the vote for the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award by 488 major league players and 30 managers.^[1]^[2]

Before the 2008 season, the Phillies (led by pitcher Brett Myers) pulled a prank on Kendrick by telling him that he was traded to Japan for a player named Kobayashi Iwamura. When Kendrick realized it was only a prank, he was relieved and Myers repeatedly shouted that he got "punked," referring to the popular TV show on MTV, Punk'd^[3]. "Kobayashi" was referring to Takeru Kobayashi, the world-famous Japanese hot dog eater, and "Iwamura" was referring to the last name of Tampa Bay Devil Rays third baseman Akinori Iwamura.