{"id":8701,"date":"2023-11-02T13:36:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=8701"},"modified":"2023-11-02T13:36:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:36:30","slug":"ian-kennedy-retiring-20231101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2023\/11\/02\/ian-kennedy-retiring-20231101\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Out a Champion: Rangers Reliever Ian Kennedy Retiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Report: Rangers Reliever Ian Kennedy Retiring<\/h2>\n

PHOENIX, Nov. 1 \u2014 Texas Rangers<\/a> reliever Ian Kennedy<\/a><\/strong> is going out a champion.<\/p>\n

The 17-year veteran, who missed the World Series due to injury, revealed to Sport Relay<\/em> during the Rangers\u2019 clubhouse celebration following their World Series victory that the 2023 season was his last, something he had decided before the season. \u201cThere\u2019s no better way to go out,\u201d the jubilant Kennedy said. \u201cYou can\u2019t top this feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early Success of Ian Kennedy, the Starting Pitcher<\/h3>\n

Kennedy, 38, debuted in 2007 for the New York Yankees<\/a> as a September call-up. He started three games, going 1\u20130 with a 1.89 ERA, 15 strikeouts, and a 1.158 WHIP. The Yankees had drafted him in the first round (21st overall) of the 2006 draft out of the University of Southern California. His next two seasons in New York did not go as well, and he found himself yo-yoing between Triple-A and the majors. On December 8, 2009, he was part of a three-team trade between the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers<\/a>, and the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>. Kennedy headed to the Diamondbacks, as did Edwin Jackson<\/a><\/strong> from the Tigers. Outfielder Curtis Granderson<\/a><\/strong> went from the Tigers to the Yankees. The Tigers received Phil Coke<\/a><\/strong> and Austin Jackson<\/a><\/strong> from the Yankees as well as Daniel Schlereth<\/a><\/strong> and Max Scherzer<\/a><\/strong> from the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

Kennedy\u2019s best season came with the Diamondbacks in 2011. He went 21\u20134 with a 2.88 ERA (72 ERA-minus). The 21 wins and his .840 win-loss percentage both led the NL. In addition, he had 198 strikeouts, 55 walks, and a 1.086 WHIP across 222 innings and 33 starts. His efforts made him fourth in the NL Cy Young<\/a><\/strong> voting and helped guide the Diamondbacks to the 2011 NL West championship.<\/p>\n

Kennedy made the only two postseason appearances of his career in 2011, starting Games One and Five of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>. Game One started decently for Kennedy, who held the Brewers to two runs on six hits and one walk through the first six innings. But in the seventh, he gave up a two-out double to Ryan Braun<\/a><\/strong> and a homer to Prince Fielder<\/a><\/strong>, ending his day. The Brewers ultimately won, 4\u20131. Kennedy earned a no-decision in his second appearance, holding the Brewers to two runs on five hits across six innings. The Brewers ultimately won on a tenth-inning walk-off single by Nyjer Morgan<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Move to Relief<\/h3>\n

Kennedy continued to start until 2018 but never repeated the success he had in 2011. The Diamondbacks traded him to the San Diego Padres<\/a> midway through the 2013 season, and he stayed with the Friars through the end of the 2015 season. He signed a five-year, $70 million deal with the Kansas City Royals<\/a> prior to the 2016 season. He became the Royals\u2019 closer in the 2019 season and did well, converting 30 of 34 save opportunities. After the 2020 season, one in which he struggled, he signed a one-year, $2.15 million contract with the Rangers. He closed for the Rangers, converting 16 of 17 save opportunities before they traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> at the trade deadline for three prospects. With the Phillies, he did not do quite as well, converting 10 of 13 save opportunities.<\/p>\n

Prior to the 2022 season, Kennedy returned to Arizona on a free-agent deal to be the setup man for a rebuilding relief unit. He did decently for most of the season, even filling in as closer when Mark Melancon<\/a><\/strong> was out and taking over when Melancon was ineffective. But his season went awry in September, and the Diamondbacks declined his option for 2023.<\/p>\n

Kennedy returned to Texas for 2023 on a minor league deal<\/a> and made the roster out of spring training. His first four appearances went well, but the season went south afterwards. In May, the Rangers let him go<\/a>. No team claimed him on waivers, so he became a free agent. But Kennedy believed in the Rangers and wanted to stay, so he signed another minor-league deal<\/a> and pitched at Triple-A Round Rock. The Rangers brought him back to the big leagues in September, but he went on the 60-day injured list after five appearances with a strained rotator cuff.<\/p>\n

Going Out a Champion<\/h3>\n

Kennedy remained with the team<\/a> during the 2023 postseason run, sitting in the bullpen to support his teammates. While there, he gave sage advice and, at times, acted as a second bullpen coach.<\/p>\n

During the clubhouse celebration following the Rangers\u2019 World Series win, Josh Sborz<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 who pitched the final 2 1\/3 innings of the clincher \u2014 spoke about Kennedy. Sborz called it an \u201chonor\u201d to send Kennedy out a champion. He added, \u201cHe played for 17 years and was a really good pitcher for a long time. He stayed with us. They (the front office) got rid of him, and he wanted to stay with us. That\u2019s what kind of person he is. He\u2019s a committed teammate and a good person, and that\u2019s why we love him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits:<\/h4>\n

PHOENIX (Nov. 1) \u2014 Ian Kennedy speaks after his Texas Rangers won the 2023 World Series with a 5\u20130 Game Five victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Photo by Evan Thompson\/Sport Relay)<\/em><\/p>\n

Ian Kennedy Career Stats:<\/h4>\n

17 years.
\n104\u2013114 (17th on active wins list).
\n4.16 ERA.
\n497 appearances (23rd on active list).
\n290 starts.
\n207 relief appearances.
\n66 saves.
\n1904 1\/3 innings (10th on active list).
\n1775 strikeouts (14th on active list).
\n1.288 WHIP.
\n2011 NL West Champion.
\n2023 World Series Champion.
\nRetired as sixth-eldest player in the American League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Report: Rangers Reliever Ian Kennedy Retiring PHOENIX, Nov. 1 \u2014 Texas Rangers reliever Ian Kennedy is going out a champion. The 17-year veteran, who missed the World Series due to injury, revealed to Sport Relay during the Rangers\u2019 clubhouse celebration following their World Series victory that the 2023 season was his last, something he had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1118,1366,1367,429,815,1062,1369,1368],"class_list":["post-8701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rangers","tag-2023-texas-rangers","tag-2023-world-series","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-ian-kennedy","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-player-retirements","tag-san-diego-padres","pmpro-has-access","eq-blocks"],"yoast_head":"\nReport: Rangers Reliever Ian Kennedy Retiring - Sport Relay<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas Rangers reliever Ian Kennedy is retiring after 17 seasons, he revealed during the World Series clubhouse celebration.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2023\/11\/02\/ian-kennedy-retiring-20231101\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Report: Rangers Reliever Ian Kennedy Retiring - Sport Relay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas Rangers reliever Ian Kennedy is retiring after 17 seasons, he revealed during the World Series clubhouse celebration.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2023\/11\/02\/ian-kennedy-retiring-20231101\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Major League Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100088190202878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-02T20:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/2023-World-Series-Ian-Kennedy-20231101-771x1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"771\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evan M. 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Thompson, Editor-in-chief","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg","caption":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief"},"description":"Evan is the owner and sole contributor of Thompson Talks, a website discussing the Big Four North American Pro Sports as well as soccer. He covered the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2019 to 2023, the Colorado Rockies in 2024, and has covered the Athletics since Spring Training 2025. He also is our National Writer. His first and biggest love is baseball. Evan lives in Gilbert, Arizona and loves history, especially of sports. He is a member of the Hemond Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He released his first book, Volume I of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, in October of 2021. His second book, Volume II of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs (1977\u20131984) came out September 2024. Order Evan's books here. Follow Evan on Twitter: @evan_m_thompson Support Evan on Patreon: https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/user?u=81411994","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/","https:\/\/x.com\/evan_m_thompson","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@evanthompson8435"],"url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/author\/evan\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8701"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8706,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8701\/revisions\/8706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}