Kendall to rest more often this season

[logan82]

The year Kendall caught 143 games started out with the backup catcher catching one guy in the rotation until that guy complained and Kendall ended up catching almost every day. The manager that year, Macha.

[Nottso]

When Macha made the "that's too bad" comment, he went on to say that resting Kendall one day a week allowed him to use Kendall in 38 straight games at the end of that year. I took it as Macha saying that he values Kendall quite a bit, and doesn't want to wear him down early in the season.

 

Also, Kendall certainly had a subpar year offensively in 2008, but he's still a .292 career hitter. I'd have to guess that he'll hit close to that this year. At least I hope he does.

[TooLiveBrew]

Even if he doesn't imo he still carries a lot of value. His defense is stellar (even though his CS% will most certainly drop in '09), and the average offensive line for catchers in 2008 was just .255/.328/.387/.715. I don't think it will be hard for the Crew to be above-average at C with both Kendall ('08: .246/.327/.324/.651) & Rivera.

[Thurston Fluff]

Also, Kendall certainly had a subpar year offensively in 2008, but he's still a .292 career hitter. I'd have to guess that he'll hit close to that this year. At least I hope he does.

 

So do I but I don't think you can look at this career and say he declines with use since he has consistently put up good batting averages while playing over 140 games each year. In fact the two best years BA wise was also two seasons were he caught almost as much as last season. He hit .325 in 150 games in 03 and followed that up with a .319 BA in 147 games the following year. To be fair his highest workload season was in 01 when he played 157 games and hit .266. I think his history shows his BA has little to do with the workload since he always catches in the upper 140's low 150's his entire career yet had different results hitting wise. I know as he ages it will be harder to do which is why I am not against a reduced workload but to blame his offense on his workload discounts his bad offense the year before when he caught the least amount of games in his career.

[logan82]

He is also has a career .371 OBP. I think Kendall reaching his career numbers are unrealistic at this point. More realistic is his 2006-2008 split or a little better which he almost reached in 2008.

 

Career

.293/.371/.388/.759

 

2006-2008

.263/.334/.326/.660

 

I took it as Macha saying that he values Kendall quite a bit, and doesn't want to wear him down early in the season.

 

So he may still catch 140+ games this year, but mostly at the end.

[Nottso]

So he may still catch 140+ games this year, but mostly at the end.

That's pretty much the way I took it.

[BrewCrewForever]

I hope Kendall starts between 125-135. No more then that.

[JJHardy7]

I guess I don't see the big deal in this. I still think Kendall will start 140 games +. A 'fresh' Kendall and a Kendall at the end of the year aren't going to really change the offense value he has. Rivera has never shown that he's a big bat in the MLB -- maybe in a small sample he has. I do think there is a big enough difference in game calling and defense in Kendall vs. Rivera. If Rivera can play at his peak for awhile in '09, he does bring a lot more power than Kendall. I just dont' think resting Kendall more equals more wins or anything like that. I'd be down with giving Rivera the 5th starter and then resting Kendall more than last year. He shouldn't play as much as last year for the pure fact he's up there in years. Keeping Kendall 'fresh' won't make a huge difference though with his bat. I'd be more interested to play Rivera more for his offense. Rivera doesn't really have a track record with most of the Brewers pitchers -- a few in AAA, but Kendall has a lot more experience with not only the current pitchers, but the entire batters of the NL compared to Mike.

[Thurston Fluff]

I'd be down with giving Rivera the 5th starter and then resting Kendall more than last year.

 

If they do go with Rivera catching one guy I hope it's Soup. He's got enough experience and knows the league well enough that he probably doesn't need the catcher to set up the hitters or know what pitch to call when as much as some of the younger guys do.

[logan82]

I guess I don't see the big deal in this.

 

It's one of those baseball things that seems to make logical sense. Catchers wear down over the course of the year. I think there is a possibility that we are all falling into traditional thinking that catchers shouldn't catch more than 130 games a year at most. I think there is a possibility that Kendall's smallish(for a catcher) size allows him not to get as worn out over the year.

[EauClaireNWL]

I think part of the reason Kendall played as much as he did last season was to make sure he hit those escalators for his '09 option year. He did, so now he can hopefully take a bit more time off but still be the starting catcher most days.

[logan82]

I don't think it had anything to do with the escalators. Kendall has started more games than most catchers throughout his entire career.

[DonMoney4Mgr]

His hitting is horrible and everyone knows that. But he's a leader behind the plate. And Prince is a eater of everything on the plate. (I digress)

 

With Kendall, if his defense drops anywhere near 2007 levels, he shouldn't even start. With all the catching prospects in our system, I can't wait for the day that we have a catcher that can hit in the bigs.

Having said that, it seems as though Macha is a guy that will put the team out there that will give him the best chance of winning, and that probably means Kendall will get more bench time. I'm predicting 115 starts this year.

[topper09er]

The only thing that pissed me off about Kendalls PT is when he was allowed to hit when we were losing in the 9th. I dont care if Kendall is the better option behind the plate in extra innings, we will never get there if he is allowed to bat. Unless there is a bunting situation Rivera should have hit every single time for Kendall when we were behind late. His defense/pitch calling is so valuable I hope he starts lots games like last year, just dont let him bat when only have a few outs left in the game and Rivera gives you a much better chance to score some quick runs (dingers)

[chansen]

I believe Yost was a big factor in Kendall wearing down last season. He appeared in 151 games which was his most since 2001. Rivera should get more playing time and I like him to be paired with Parra.

[areacodes]

That's sorta misleading as he appeared in 150 games in both 2003 and 2005. In Kendall's career he is averaging (excluding 1999 when he had a season ending injury) about 146 games a year and in the time frame you quoted he has averaged about 148 games caught per year. I have a hard time believing Yost was a big factor when Kendall has been doing this his entire career with multiple managers.