After he committed a throwing error in today’s scrimmage against Team USA, Kyle Kendrick threw up his arms in disgust. After he allowed a single to Dustin Pedroia, Kendrick threw his arms up again. An irritated Rich Dubee called Kendrick’s behavior “poor” and “unacceptable.”
“I haven’t been evaluating yet, but the race [for the fifth spot in the rotation] is on now,” he said. “I would have liked to have seen a little more improvement [from Kendrick], but again, it’s early. … He still needs better body language. He still needs a better presence, I’d say. It looked a little frail at times. Again, that chopped base hit, that’s life to a sinker ball guy and has to understand that. When you’re throwing your arms like, ‘Why me?’ or whatever he’s throwing them up for, that’s showing the other team there that you’re scuffling. And you don’t ever want to let your guard down. You don’t want to show how you might be feeling poorly or whatever.”
