begun to feel pain in the area on the final pitch of the second inning, and that he had asked to be taken out to avoid injuring his arm by altering his pitching mechanics. He returned on April 25 to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up eight hits and eight runs in innings while striking out only two batters. The injury set Kennedy off-course at the start of the season, and by the end of May, he had a 7.15 ERA in eight starts. He recovered through the middle part of the season, striking out 93 batters in 16 starts between June and August while holding his opponents to a .229 batting average, but struggled again at the end of the year. In his final six starts of 2015, batters hit .297 against Kennedy, who had a 5.61 ERA in that span. He finished the year with a 9–15 record and a 4.28 ERA but showed considerable improvement in his fastball velocity and in his K/9 ratio, the latter of which was 9.3 for the year. At the end of the season, the Padres tendered Kennedy a one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer under the anticipation that he would reject it in search of a multi-year contract elsewhere. Kennedy rejected the offer, becoming a free agent that winter. Kansas City Royals (2016–2020) On January 16, 2016, the Kansas City Royals signed Kennedy to a five-year, $70 million contract, with an opt-out clause built in prior to the 2018 season. Kennedy was happy to join the team, which he described as "an easy environment", and particularly enjoyed the reunion with his Yankees pitching coach, Dave Eiland. On the final day of spring training, Kennedy exited the mound shortly before the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness. Manager Ned Yost said that the removal was precautionary for a "slight" injury. Kennedy later took the win in his Royals debut, striking out seven batters in innings in a 7–0 shutout of the Minnesota Twins. The Royals could not keep apace of their previous World Series-winning season, however, and on July 25, Kennedy managed to load the bases within six minutes of the first pitch of the game, putting the Royals in a 4–0 deficit out of the gate. He followed this effort by allowing only three runs in four starts, but was not credited with a win between June 26 and August 15.