2022 Diamondbacks Reviews, #28: Buddy Kennedy

Dec 9, 2022 - 12:00 AM

Voting Breakdown

Overview

• Rating: 3.94
• 2022 Stats: 30 G, 94 PA, .217/.287/.325, 1 HR, 12 RBI, .613 OPS, 75 OPS+, 0.0 bWAR
• Date of Birth: October 5, 1998 (24 years old)
• 2022 Earnings: Prorated League Minimum
• 2023 Status: Outrighted to Reno Aces (AAA) on November 11, 2022

2022 Review

Buddy Kennedy started the season in Reno. He has good enough numbers there (.261/.363/.385 with 7 HR and 40 RBI), but they don’t jump off the screen at you like Reno numbers sometimes can.

He received the call up and made his MLB debut on June 17, 2022 against Minnesota and went 1-3 with a single and a walk. Two days later he hit his only Major League homerun to date: a sixth inning grand slam, still against the Twins. Was there anything special about that homerun? Yeah, just maybe. It was Father’s Day in the US. And Buddy’s dad was at the game. You can’t make this stuff up.

Buddy stayed on the roster until August 2 when he was optioned back to Reno. The league’s pitchers adjusted to him, as is reflected in his overall stat line for the year. His roster spot was given to Emmanuel Rivera after we traded for him from the Royals.

Buddy did get one more MLB shot though. He was recalled on September 30 and stuck until the end of the season on October 5. Sadly that’s it for Buddy Kennedy so far. His 40-man roster spot was taken from him on November 11 to make room for Jorge Barrosa, Dominic Fletcher, Justin Martinez, Blaze Alexander and Carlos Vargas.

2023 Outlook

As of writing (7:30pm EST 12/7/2022), Kennedy is still with Arizona, but he has an uphill battle to get back to Chase. Losing his 26-man spot is one thing, but the 40-man spot is hard to come back from. It’s certainly possible, but it does seem like the organization views Alexander as having passed him on the depth chart, and with Jordan Lawlar blazing his way through the system like the second coming of Corbin Carroll, Kennedy could find himself even deeper in twelve months time.

But he got the taste. He’s seen the elite pitching of the top level. If he can build off lessons learned in 2022, he could still carve out playing time for himself. Whether that’s in Arizona or for another team is the big question. I lean other team at this point, but I also believe he’ll taste the majors again, hopefully making new memories as incredible as a Father’s Day Grand Slam with Pappy in attendance.