I know effective starting pitching, and Joe Kennedy is not it. (reference)

Ugh. That's the only word I can think of after that outing by Joe Kennedy. He's just about pitched his way out of the 5th starter job that was all but wrapped up for him entering March.

Kennedy has now given up 22 earned runs in 9.2 innings pitched. His ERA is 20.48, which sounds more like the APR on my credit card after paying for my trip to Phoenix.

The A's have given up 73 earned runs this spring, and Joe Kennedy is responsible for 30% of them. That's about the same impact on the team that Mike Piazza and Erubiel Durazo have had -- a combined 21 RsBI -- except negative. Very, very negative.

I know not to get too discouraged by Kennedy's dismal performance, just as I shouldn't get too excited about Rich Harden's incredible spring. Kennedy is competing for a spot in the rotation, though, and has been nothing short of terrible in every one of his four starts.

Who's now the leader for the No. 5 spot? I'd guess Shane Komine and Brad Halsey are neck-and-neck. Komine has better spring numbers, but Halsey has more MLB starting experience.

-- - --

And with that, my time here in Arizona draws to a close. I've taken a couple thousand pictures, attended a dozen games, and had immeasurable fun here in the desert. I hope I've been informative and at least a little entertaining to those of you who didn't blow off two weeks of real life to watch baseball.

When I return home to Nebraska in a couple days, after driving through Zion and Arches National Parks in Utah, I'll look through all of my photos, and probably share a couple of the best ones that didn't fit in with what I was writing.