FCL Pirates 2023 Recap: Michael Kennedy Leads Pitching Staff
FCL Pirates 2023 Recap: Michael Kennedy Leads Pitching Staff
A look back at some of the top pitchers for the 2023 FCL Pirates team.
In part one of this series, I talked about the great start, and slow finish by the 2023 FCL Pirates team. After winning four of 16 games in August, they limped into the playoffs, only to get bounced in the first round.
We also looked at some of the top hitters previously, with today’s edition focusing on the pitching side of things.
The pitching staff allowed the fifth fewest runs in the Florida Complex League this season, and combine that with their offense, it’s easy to see why they had the best run differential in 2023.
Michael Kennedy
The former fourth round pick out of the high school ranks, Kennedy pitched the entire 2023 FCL season as an 18-year-old.
Despite that, not only was the left-hander the best pitcher on the staff, but was among the best in the entire FCL.
Overall on the season, Kennedy posted a 2.13 ERA (3.97 xFIP), striking out 55 and walking 19 in 42.1 innings pitched.
Among pitchers who threw at least 30 innings in the FCL this season, Kennedy was among the league leaders in strikeouts (4th), ERA (3rd), strikeout rate (2nd), and opponent’s batting average (1st).
Antwone Kelly
We got a quick look at Kelly before the season began, as he pitched an inning during the World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands.
Fast forward to this season, he mostly appeared out of the bullpen in the FCL, but was still only a handful of pitchers to top 30 innings pitched this season.
In total, he posted a 2.95 ERA (4.31 xFIP), with 47 strikeouts and 18 walks across 39.2 innings pitched. The ERA and strikeout marks rank eight and six, respectively, among FCL pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched.
Kevison Hernandez
I had written about Hernandez earlier in the season, and how it appeared he saw a bump in his velocity to already help his very data-friendly fastball, finishing strong.
A little more of a traditional reliever, how far Hernandez goes will depend on getting his control under wraps. He struck out right under 30% of the batters he faced, but also walked 20.3%.
It got better as the season went on, but certainly something to monitor down the road. In 27.2 innings pitched, Hernandez posted a 3.25 ERA, and held opponent’s to a .173 average.
Other Notables
Joaquin Tejada posted a 2.70 ERA (5.57 xFIP) while striking out 30 in 26.2 innings out of the bullpen. While being mostly a pitch to contact guy - those are tricky in the lower levels - Isaias Uribe posted a 4.31 xFIP (3.98 ERA), in 38.1 innings pitched.
Andres Silvera showed some good stuff (threw a cutter-type fastball that went 93 mph and had near 2700 rpms of spin to it), but really suffered bad from a near .400 BABIP.
This isn’t even considering one of the more hyped up prospects to play on the FCL team, as Jun-Seok Shim only managed eight total innings before being shut down with an injury.
Is there any word on Shim’s injury? The last thing I heard, they shut him down, but there was no talk of surgery.
Be interested to see which of these guys can back up their performances in bradenton next year!