Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick was throwing well through five innings in Saturday’s start against the Giants, holding them to one run. He entered the sixth with a 5-1 lead, but all hell broke loose. Buster Posey led off with a single, then Pablo Sandoval hit a mile-high pop-up to the right side of the infield. Both second baseman Chase Utley and first baseman Ryan Howard came after it, but the ball dropped between them. Utley picked up the ball and quickly made a back-hand flip to second base in attempt to secure the force out, but it was wide and dragged shortstop Jimmy Rollins off of the bag, allowing both runners to reach safely. Mike Morse followed up with an RBI double to make it 5-2 and put runners on second and third.
Manager Ryne Sandberg came out to the mound to get Kendrick. As is customary, the pitcher waits on the mound before handing off the ball to his manager, but a frustrated Kendrick was already on his way off the field before Sandberg could reach the mound. Lefty reliever Mario Hollands came in, but the Giants kept scoring, and the Phillies ultimately lost 6-5.
Kendrick apologized for showing up his manager and explained his frustration afterwards. Via CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury:“We talked,” Kendrick said before Sunday afternoon’s game. “I know it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
[...]
“Obviously you want the ball caught, but I was just upset at coming out of the game,” he said. “The ball falling in had nothing to do with it. I didn’t handle it right.”
[...]
“He wanted to see where I was at,” Kendrick said. “I didn’t want to come out of the game. I wasn’t trying to show up Ryno. That wasn’t my intention. I was upset and I wanted to get where no one could see me as quick as possible.
“Everything’s been kind of building up. It’s been a tough year for us and me personally. You’ve got to keep fighting, but little stuff irritates you.”
Following Saturday’s start, Kendrick has a 5-11 record with a 4.90 ERA and a 91/44 K/BB ratio in 154 1/3 innings over 25 starts. He can become a free agent after the season. Given the Phillies’ status as non-contenders for the foreseeable future, it seems unlikely that the team would bring him back in 2015. As a result, Kendrick is essentially auditioning for prospective teams over the remaining month and a half of the season.