It's Ian Kennedy's Turn To Try To Cure Yankees' Back-of-the-Rotation Troubles

Ian Kennedy, step right up. You are the next contestant on “Who Wants To Be the Yankees' Fifth Starter?”

The show began in 2004, with immortals such as Donovan Osborne and Alex Graman making starts. Since then: Darrell May, Tim Redding, Al Leiter, and Kris Wilson have been among those who have tried to claim a consistent spot in the rotation.

This year, Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and Kei Igawa have all tried to make a spot in the rotation.

Some contestants, like Aaron Small, have been successful. Most, like the recently traded Jeff Karstens, haven’t been.

This year, Ponson and Rasner parlayed their second chances into spots in the rotation, but both are on shaky ground right now. After allowing five runs in four innings Sunday against Los Angeles, Rasner is probably run out of chances, opening the door to someone else. His ERA currently sits at 5.23 and his WHIP is 1.57, so his days are numbered at best.

Enter Ian Kennedy.

Last year, Kennedy took advantage of his three starts, allowing just four runs in 19-2/3 innings. That made him the No. 5 starter on the Yankees this season, but an 8.37 ERA in six games (five starts) earned him a trip to the minors.

He threw just eight-and-one-third impressive innings there before the Yankees gave him another chance, but he made just three more starts before going on the disabled list.

When he was healthy, the Yankees have tried to make him earn his way back to the majors. Some in the Yankees organization felt he was rushed to the majors, and they want him to regain his confidence before his return to the Bronx.

The Yankees have always had high hopes for Kennedy. He was their first-round pick in the 2006 amateur draft, and he flew through the farm system in 2007. Until his struggles this season, he had been very successful at every level of the minor leagues.

This season has been no exception. In eight total starts in AAA Scranton, he's allowed 11 runs in 46-1/3 innings, good for a 2.14 ERA.

This season’s struggles were a setback, but at the end of the day, he is still a 23-year old with a good pedigree, command of his pitches, and deceptive off-speed pitches.

However, Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News reports that the Yankees feel Kennedy is behind where he was last season, and his velocity might not be all the way back from a strained lat muscle.

While the stats say Kennedy is back, if he is truly not ready, another option to start in place of Rasner is Alfredo Aceves. The Yankees signed him out of the Mexican League, and at 25-years old, he’s been a revelation, walking just 20 batters through 118-2/3 minor-league innings at three levels.

He hasn’t been as dominant in AAA, where he sports a 4.15 ERA, but he remains an option.

Kei Igawa is another option, much to the collective chagrin of Yankees fans. He’s been doing better in AAA lately, but the Yankees just took him off the 40-man roster in June. Chances are, that means they aren’t about to put him back on it just yet.

Rasner could make another start, but it’s more likely Kennedy, Aceves, Igawa, or even Jarrod Washburn makes the start on Friday in Los Angeles.

Whoever does will be the latest to get a chance in the constantly changing, back end of the Yankees rotation. Kennedy makes the most sense.

Either way, the Yankees hope that someone can give them some consistency. Friday night will help determine whether that contestant is the next Shawn Chacon or Matt DeSalvo.

Reach Mackenzie Kraemer at his blog, JetsDaily.com or via e-mail.