Time to give Rivera more playing time

[RU Rah Rah]

63 players have caught in MLB this year. (This includes guys with less than 10 AB's, a couple of whom apparently played a game and went 0-for-3.) Kendall's ranks:

 

51st in OBP

56th in SLG

57th in OPS

 

I might add, just as a point of reference, that his .402 OPS is just a shade better than that of Dave Bush -- the third-best hitting pitcher on the team.

 

I wouldn't throw him on the scrap heap based on those rankings at this point in the season; it's not the biggest sample in the world. But he's basically turning into an automatic out

(via grounder to the left side).

[PlayerHader]

To be fair to Kendall 2 of those 8 were bad calls, he should be at 3 caught and 7 SB.

 

Fair enough -- although, I suspect some bad calls are part of every catcher's data.

 

I don't think it was just some fluke. He was throwing perfect strikes almost every time last year.

 

Yeah, he sure did a good job last year, I just think he had a lot more easier chances than a lot of catchers generally get. He had a very bad 2007, and I think teams made him prove he could throw runners out, once he did, they quit running on him.... I think he will be around 20% or so.

The worst call this year on a steal attempt cost Rivera a caught stealing. I believe that was against the Cubs.

I don't remember the play, but it could hardly have been worse than when Kendall gunned down Reyes last Saturday. That was an obvious bad call. I thought they had Werth at 2nd last night too. It was close, but the ball beat him there and the tag seemed there as well.

[Ennder]

Kendall had 3 miserable months at the plate last year too and then 3 servicable months so there is hope that he turns it around. I would still LOVE to see Rivera out there for 2 pitchers instead of 1 at this point. Having an extra black hole in the lineup for months at a time is not going to work this year. We got away with it last year because of how good the pitching was but since we took a step back in pitching we need to take a step forward in offense.