Millville, NJ, native Buddy Kennedy goes deep at Spring Training

Millville High School alum Buddy Kennedy was optioned to Triple-A Toledo earlier this week but had a chance to show the Detroit Tigers he deserves to be on their Opening Day roster.

On Saturday the former Thunderbolt went yard, smashing a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin at TD Bank Ballpark.

Earlier in the game, Kennedy doubled in a run and went 2-4 with two RBI in the game.

Kennedy signed with the Tigers back on Feb 29 after being released by St. Louis. The 25-year-old entered the day hitting .182 in 10 Grapefruit League games.

He has appeared in 40 Major League games since being drafted from Millville High in the fifth round of the MLB Draft back in 2017. He is a career .206 hitter with one home run and 13 RBI at the big league level but has excelled at the minor league level, hitting .285 with 45 home runs and 251 RBI in six minor league seasons.

At Millville as a senior, Kennedy caught the attention of teams after hitting .493 with six home runs as a senior, getting selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth round.