Kennedy is underrated

Kennedy is underrated

From Petey Ab;
"Lester is better and has more of a track record than Ian Kennedy.."
Define better? Lets throw out Kennedy's three starts as too smal a sample size and instead look at their other numbers. Career minor league numbers;
H/9 - Lester 7.99, Kennedy 5.62
K/9 Lester 8.31, Kennedy 9.97
ERA-Lester 3.33, Kennedy 1.87
WHIP-Lester 1.31, Kennedy .97
BB/9-Lester 3.78, Kennedy 3.14
A significant advantage for Kennedy in every category. How about the scouting reports?
From BA in 2005 on Lester;
"Strengths:Lester is a big, physical lefthander with a chance for three plus pitches. His fastball has late life and has risen from 87-88 mph in 2003 to 90-91 in 2004 to 92-93 last year, when he topped out at 95. He has turned his cut fastball into a true slider that’s now his No. 2 pitch. He can get both swings and misses and called strikes with his changeup. "
and BA in 2006 on Kennedy;
"Strengths: Kennedy has excellent command, particularly for a young pitcher, thanks to his consistent delivery. His command helps his average stuff play up. He spots his fastball, which sits in the upper 80s and touches 92 mph when he's right, and throws a sinking changeup from the same arm slot and with similar arm speed. Even when he's not at his best, Kennedy keeps the ball down and doesn't give up many homers. He's savvy and intelligent and pitches with a plan."
So its the old stuff versus resuls argument. The results don't compare and few MPH on the heater(89 to 91 for Ian and 92-93 for Lester) shouldn't make that much of a difference.