Diamondbacks 2023 Player Reviews: Buddy Kennedy
This article is part of a series of player reviews for the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a surprising and marvelous year for the team as they won 84 games to make the postseason. They advanced all the way to Game Five of the World Series before bowing out to the Texas Rangers. There are 54 players in all that had at least one at-bat or pitched at least one inning for the team this past season. They are being presented in reverse order of their aWAR (average WAR-Wins Above Replacement) produced, which is the average of Baseball Reference and Fangraphs WAR. These are their season stories.
Buddy Kennedy had a tough time in the MLB in 2023 and in his overall career so far.
Jake Oliver
Buddy Kennedy had a whirlwind past year in professional baseball. He was removed from the Arizona Diamondbacks' 40-man roster last off-season only to do well in the minor leagues with the Reno Aces this year before getting back onto the 40-man roster. He found himself in MLB once again on August 12th. This was after an impressive 87-game run with the Aces. During that span, he hit .318/.447/.480 with a .927 OPS. with 70 walks to only 65 strikeouts. He had 22 doubles, eight triples, five home runs, 46 RBI, and three stolen bases.
The team was hopeful that the strong play from Triple-A would continue to some degree in the MLB. This was especially because of the team's black hole at third base. Unfortunate for Kennedy and the D-backs, the results failed to come. While Kennedy was impressive defensively, he was simply unable to get anything going at the MLB level with his bat.
He had just four hits in 29 plate appearances. Only one of those hits went for extra-bases, a double in what would wind up his final game with the D-backs. Kennedy did display a good eye at the plate with four walks to six strikeouts. However, with the Diamondbacks simply unable to continue running him out there in the middle of a playoff chase, they were forced to option him back to Triple-A with the Reno Aces on September 1st. Less than a week later on the 6th, the Diamondbacks designated Kennedy for assignment. He would be claimed by the Oakland Athletics.
2024 Status and Outlook:
Kennedy spent the rest of the 2023 minor league season with the Las Vegas Aviators, Oakland's Triple-A team. Then, he was placed on waivers later in October. This time, the St. Louis Cardinals claimed him off of waivers on October 25th. He's set to be a member of the Cardinals organization for the foreseeable future, unless the Cardinals put him on waivers. Whichever team he starts with next season have six years of control over him. This is due to the fact he isn't eligible to be an MLB free agent until after the 2029 season. One thing is certain, he won't be with the D-backs.
