Can Kyle Kendrick Solidify Spot in Rotation?

                One word can sum up Kyle Kendrick's career better than any other and that word is streaky.  After going 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 2007 at the age of 22, and taking 5th in the Rookie of the Year voting, Kendrick's pitching has been like a never-ending roller-coaster.
He often goes into elongated slumps and then great stretches followed by yet another slump.  Since his rookie year, Kendrick has bounced between starter, reliever, and minor-leaguer due to his lack of consistency.  In 2008, Kendrick saw his ERA skyrocket to 5.49 and as a result spent much of the 2009 season in the minor leagues.  Consistency has plagued Kendrick throughout his career but in 2013 the Phillies will need him to settle into a permanent rotation spot and prove himself a capable back of the rotation starter if they want to have a bounce-back season from 2012.  Kendrick seems to give up a lot of runs in short periods of time but often answers these slumps with a few good outings strung together.  In 2013, the Phillies will look to Kendrick and John Lannan for consistency at the back of the rotation and hope that they can both eat some innings while giving their team a chance to win.
                 Kendrick will look to improve on a strong finish to his 2012 season in which he went 11-12 with a 3.90 ERA, but pitched stronger and smarter as the season progressed. Kendrick began the 2012 season in the bullpen but was quickly shuffled into the rotation due to injuries, where he remained for the rest of the season. Toward the end of the season Kendrick showed that he does still have some of the promise he showed in 2007 as a 22 year-old rookie.  In 2013 the Phillies will look for Kendrick, now 28, to finally find some consistency and eat some innings to save the bullpen.  Versatility has kept Kendrick around in years past but he may want to look to Roy Halladay for advice on how he can be more consistent because when he can finally get in a groove and maintain it will be when Kyle Kendrick finally reaches his full potential.  Kendrick could be facing the possibility of 2013 being the most important year of his career, as he enters Spring Training with a spot in the rotation, but if he can't find some consistency through the course of the season he may see himself back in the bullpen and the Phillies searching for other options.  So will 2013 be the year that Kyle Kendrick finally reaches his potential?  Only time will tell, until then, Go Phils!