The Phillies acquired Roy Halladay prior to the 2010 season, and during spring training, Kendrick sought the mentorship of Halladay, whom he aspired to emulate during his high school career. Halladay willingly obliged, and teammates endearingly referred to Kendrick as "Little Roy" due to the amount of time he spent working with Halladay. Despite initially losing a competition for the fifth spot in the Phillies starting rotation during spring training to Jamie Moyer, an injury to Joe Blanton thrust Kendrick into the fifth spot in the Phillies rotation, the fourth consecutive year during which he had held that role for at least a short time. After a decent first half of the 2010 season (at the end of June, he had a 4–4 record with a 3.23 ERA). Kendrick was briefly demoted to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA), but did not make any starts there, as Moyer's season ended due to injury, causing Kendrick's recall. Overall, he earned 11 wins, which tied a career high, and started 31 games, which set a new career high, while, in total, posting an 11–10 record with a 4.73 ERA in 180 innings pitched. Pat Gallen, editor in chief of "Phillies Nation", opined that Kendrick's performance indicated he would never exceed being an average, "run-of-the-mill starting pitcher", who would never exceed that role. At the conclusion of the season, Kendrick and the Phillies avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, contract.