Kansas City Royals: Most disappointing players in 2018

At 33 years old, Ian Kennedy will most likely never replicate his 2011 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks when he finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting. That year he went 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA and struck out 198 batters.

But it would be nice if he was even close to 2016 Ian Kennedy who went 11-11 with a 3.68 ERA. This past season the right hander earned $5.3 million per win. While we all know wins are not the end-all-be-all for pitcher stats, it’s not like the rest of his numbers popped off the page.

His 9.4 hits per nine innings was ugly, and an ERA + of eight points below the league average certainly isn’t worth $16 million.

Like Duffy, Kennedy missed time with an injury and made just 22 starts. He did pitch better after his return from the DL, lowering his ERA from 5.13 to 4.66 in his final four appearances on the mound.

Tyler Dierking of Kings of Kauffman wanted to see more from the young Royals pitchers late in the season.

"But, just because he is on a big contract doesn’t mean the Royals have to keep trotting [Kennedy] out. The Royals season is done. Kennedy has zero trade value due to his health and contract … So why should the Royals continue throwing him out there?"

Kennedy is owed $33 million over the next two seasons, which should have Kansas City fans shaking in their boots. Like Dierking wrote, his trade value is low so the best they can hope for is something close to 2011.

Or heck, even 2016.