Mac
Kennedy

I saw Kennedy in January of 2025, but had not had a chance to get live eyes on the large lefthander from the Trailblazers since that winter ball outing. Since that time, his body has developed well with a more athletic build on his large 6’6 frame, which has helped to clean up his delivery down the mound. Kennedy is moving smoother in the load, staying online to foot strike more consistently, holding his body posture at foot strike, rotating through the core more efficiently, and showing a cleaner, looser arm stroke now, which all result in a delivery showing less effort and more repeatability. The uptick in the quality of his body and delivery has been bolstered by an uptick in his present pitch arsenal. The FB for Kennedy now lives routinely in the upper 80’s (87-89) while touching 90 MPH several times across four innings, including three times in his final inning of work. His SLD has improved now in both the pure velocity at 75-78 MPH, but also the consistency of its shape and power in the break. The SLD was murder on LHH, who could not recognize it in time to get quality swings on it, or locked up when it started at their front side and dove back over the plate. But, as good as his FB/SLD duo was, it’s the 82-83 MPH CHG he featured to RHH that really caught my eyes and elicited whiffs from those hitters with its deception, fade, and tumble. Kennedy got into some trouble in the first when his control escaped him after a leadoff strikeout, but pitched his way out of the jam and then induced a ground ball to 2nd with a runner at 3rd and one out that resulted in an out at the plate to complete four innings of scoreless relief in a one-run game to claim the win for the Trailblazers.