Kennedy adopts 'goldfish' mentality in 'pen

PHILADELPHIA -- Be a goldfish, Ian Kennedy.

Kennedy has seen a few episodes of the TV show "Ted Lasso," including a memorable opening scene in which Jason Sudeikis’ title character -- a soccer manager -- pulls aside one of his players following a poor play on the pitch. The player is upset because he got beat badly and cost his team a goal.

“You know what the happiest animal on Earth is?” Lasso asked the player. “It’s a goldfish. You know why?”

“No.”

“Got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish, Sam.”

Golfer Jon Rahm cited the scene a couple of weeks ago after shooting an eight-under 64 in the first round of the BMW Championship. It followed a terrible finish the previous week at the Northern Trust, where he blew a lead in the final nine holes after leading most of the tournament. Lasso’s lesson fit Kennedy’s Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, where he blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning. He allowed a two-run homer to Rockies pinch-hitter Ryan McMahon, then a solo homer to Sam Hilliard in a 4-3 loss.

“You’ve got to forget,” Kennedy said Friday afternoon. “You can be a hero one day, like in Miami [on Sunday] throwing two [scoreless] innings, and then last night in my mind, I’m like, ‘You’re the reason why we lost.’ That’s what I said to myself. But I can go out today, and in my mind, it’s erased. You have to do that as a reliever.

“So, yeah, be a goldfish.”

Kennedy had a 2.51 ERA and 16 saves in 17 opportunities in 32 appearances earlier this season with the Rangers, who traded him to the Phillies in a six-player deal on July 30. He has a 6.59 ERA and six saves in eight opportunities in 14 appearances with the Phillies.

The biggest difference in Kennedy’s numbers? Home runs.

Kennedy allowed five homers in 32 1/3 innings with Texas. He has allowed six in 13 2/3 innings with the Phillies.

“It’s bad execution,” he said.

He got ahead of McMahon 0-2, then threw a curveball down the middle of the plate. Obviously, it was not where he wanted it.

“It’s not down enough or it’s not high enough,” Kennedy said about his home-run troubles. “Breaking balls and changeups, they’re not down enough. The one yesterday was a terrible pitch. Sometimes you go through a stretch. The homers, if they’re on fastballs, they’re not high enough, they’re not low enough. It’s just bad execution. I’m trying to bounce the curveball. 0-2, I had balls to play with, so I was trying to throw it down. And I just threw it middle-middle, right in his swing path. That was not the intent.

“I threw five fastballs in a row, and the last one he was a little closer to. So I thought, 'Bounce this one.' If he doesn’t swing, throw a fastball, but throw it higher. It just never got to that point.”

So how does one execute better in those spots? How does a pitcher make sure he goes higher or lower in the zone with those two-strike pitches?

“Just being more mindful,” Kennedy said. “It’s a fine line when I come into a game. I can’t give those up. I can’t make a mistake. Just be more diligent, more mindful. Get this down -- down. It’s the only thing I can look at.”

And if it doesn’t go as planned, forget about it, focus on the next pitch and move on.