Kendal Volz

William Kendal Volz

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 225 lb.
• School Baylor University
• High School Smithson Valley High School

• Born December 2, 1987 in Bulverde, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Kendal Volz was selected in the 9th round of the 2009 amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox, out of Baylor University. During his time there, he had been a member of the USA College National Team.He had five saves and five shutout innings when they won the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week. He was part of the U.S. team that won gold in the 2008 World University Championship, picking up the save against Japan in the final game. He allowed one unearned run in four innings (1 H, 1 BB, 3 K) and led the event with two saves. His four games pitched tied Tyler Lyons for second on the US staff, one behind Kyle Gibson. After graduating from high school, he had been drafted in the 59th round of the 2006 amateur draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but continued on to college.

He pitched three seasons in the minor leagues, before an injury ended his career at the end of May, 2012, when he was with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League. It's not clear that the injury was enough to end his career by itself, as only a month and a week after going on the disabled list, he announced that he was retiring from baseball, and never looked back. Only a couple of weeks earlier, on May 10th, the highlight of his career had come when he complete a 2-0 no-hitter against the Springfield Cardinals as the fourth Naturals pitcher of the evening. Major leaguer Greg Holland, on a rehabilitation assignment, had pitched a perfect 1st inning and was followed by Chris Dwyer, who went 6 2/3 innings. Brendan Lafferty recorded the final out in the 8th before turning the ball over to him, and he notched one of his 6 saves that season. He was 3-1, 2.19 in 16 games when he went down, and seemed likely to get a first shot at the majors in short order. The Naturals were a Kansas City Royals affiliate; he had been traded to the Royals on July 30, 2011 along with Yamaico Navarro in return for IF Mike Aviles.

In his first two pro seasons, he went 6-5, 3.71 as a starter with the Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League in 2010, and 3-3, 3.39 in 40 games as a reliever for three different teams in 2011.

After retiring, he went back to Baylor to complete his B.A. and later served on the college's Alumni Board of Advocates.

Related Sites

• Baylor University bio