DAVE KENNEDY, developed by Steven Galbraith, is a DH-only AIM manager suited for modern replays (1985-present). He manages pitchers like Collins above, with a quick hook, platoon moves, and setup for the supercloser.  Offensively, he stays with his starting nine. Defensively, he subs and shifts when ahead, and favors subbing “itchy” players. Kennedy is competitive for today’s DH play. [Note: be careful with interleague play, when on the road in the other league he can cause problems because of a lack of the DH.]

Kennedy manages teams assigned to him in the following general pattern:

1) Pitching Changes: Like his National League counterpart Gene Collins, Kennedy bases many on his relief decisions on the availability of a supercloser (20+ saves) in his bullpen. Thus, all of his pitching decisions are based upon using his relieversto setup this relief specialist. This includes:

 a) a quick hook, especially for low durability (QS-4) starters;

 b) the use of multiple relievers – 3 to as many as 5 – in the middle innings to setup the supercloser;

  c) a heavy reliance on platoon factors and the use of relievers to take advantage of those factors (this is done eveni f the team has no supercloser)

Kennedy will also rotate relievers – even if losing – limiting relievers to 1-2 innings before bringing in a new pitcher.

2) Offensive and Defensive Substitutions: Kennedy essentially stays with his starting 9 (8 plus DH) and is reluctant to pinchhit much for regulars (as is the modern trend). Defensively,

he does like to sub when leading for better defensive players, including moving his outfielders   around. You might see, for example, a team’s CF being moved to RF and a better CF being used. Kennedy will sub freely, however, in lopsided games,especially for star players. This entails pinchhitting for them; pinchrunning for them; and replacing them defensively.

3) Little ball. Kennedy is very conservative in the running game. Generally, he tries to play for  big innings and stays away from trying to “scratch out” runs. However, if the team is  hit and run or sacrifice to either pad his slim lead, or tied thegame.

4) Rout Maneuvers: Kennedy will employ several strategies in subbing for star players or pitchers. For starting pitchers, especially quality one, Kennedy will remove as early as possible, sometimes the 7th – starters when the game is safe at hand. Additionally, whether on the winning or losing side of a lopsided game, Kennedy will either pinchhit, pinchrun, or replace defensively star players. In such a scenario, he favors using”itchy” players as subs over “non-itchy” players.