Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
If those who support the Philadelphia Phillies keeping Aaron Nola in the minors for now need more ammunition for their position, they need look no further than the Kyle Kendrick story.
Kendrick was a hasty call-up from the Reading (Pa.) Double-A affiliate in 2007 and he did rather well in his short stint, going 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA. The problem with Kendrick is that he has flat-lined since and a call-up from Double-A stunted his MLB growth like a cigarette might do to a middle-school kid. Kendrick has not won more than 11 games in any of his subsequent seven years in the majors and his win percentage never matched his 2007 debut. He is now with the Colorado Rockies because the Phillies saw no reason to offer him a contract extension in the offseason.
Interestingly enough, Kendrick’s call-up came in the middle of a season with Reading in which he was not all that impressive. In 2007, the same year Kendrick went 10-4 in 20 MLB games, he was only 4-7 in the Eastern League with a 3.21 ERA in 12 games.
Nola’s Eastern League numbers are significantly more impressive than Kendrick’s were. In nine games, he is 6-3 with a 1.87 ERA. Already the clamor to bring him up to the majors has begun, but it should fall on deaf ears. Kendrick probably could have used a full Double-A year and a full Triple-A year after that and might have been a more effective MLB pitcher with the extra seasoning, but now we will never know. That’s precisely the point with Nola, who has a higher upside and a better arm than Kendrick ever will. If they force Nola to the majors now, they will always wonder what he might have become and that question does not need to be asked right now.
Unlike 2007, the Phillies are not going anywhere in 2015 and do not need to stunt Nola’s growth so the few fans who go to the games can see him pitch now. The Phillies need another Cole Hamels, not another Kendrick, and their best chance to get that with Nola is to keep him right where he is.
Mike Gibson is a Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
