Jason Kendall - Baseball's Iron Man

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jun 21, 2010 6:57 AM EDT

Ironman2_medium

Anyone following the Royals knows that Jason Kendall loves to play everyday. The 35 year old wonder (to turn 36 this up coming Saturday), has been in 66 of the 70 games played so far this season He has caught 12, 21, 15 and 18 games in a row so far. To say the least, this is quite bewildering. It really should not come as any surprise because in the last 10 years he has average catching 146 games a season

Does catching that many games in a row actually have an effect of Jason's offensive ability? I have divided Jason stats in 4 bins, 1-3, 4-6 . 7-9 or 10+ games caught since having a game off and here are the numbers:

Games after Game Off	Plate Apps	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1-3	43	0.308	0.372	0.359	0.731
4-6	51	0.283	0.353	0.348	0.701
7-9	49	0.311	0.347	0.356	0.702
10+	122	0.222	0.287	0.269	0.555

All right Jason can go a few days in a row without his production dropping off, but after 9 straight games, Ned needs to look at giving Jason a rest. I know the numbers may be a small sample size, but doesn't after, say 14 games in a row, the catcher may need a day off. I had to hand compute the stats, so I don't have the numbers for previous season off hand. I have added to my list to look for how a catcher hits when they have caught a bunch of a games in a row.

His will power and grit are not helping the team to victories as the team is 16-20 (0.444) in the first nine games after he has a game off and only 12-18 after that point (0.400).

My plea:

Jason you are not Iron Man, but like Iron Man you need your batteries recharged. Your body is breaking down, no matter how much you hope the tattoos will give you the power of youth. How about every other week, take a day off, ~~and spend some time with the wife~~, and just relax and watch the game from the dugout. It won't kill you and you can concentrate you unused energy on helping that days catcher absorb your vast knowledge. Right now your ego is only hurting the team.

Tweet Comment 26 comments | 1 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Good stuff.

Question though. Is Kendall playing everyday a product of Kendall getting upset if/when he’s benched and causing a problem, or just Hillman/Yost thinking he has to play. I mean, if Kendall were used like every other starting catcher in the league, is there reason to think he’d be upset by that…or is it just another case of Royals decision makers being extremely, extremely ignorant.

Killing time until time kills me

by EspeciallyK on Jun 21, 2010 8:33 AM EDT reply actions

I know he stated when he was signed that he wanted to play every day, but can't find the quote yet.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jun 21, 2010 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

I've read multiple things that said he threw a fit whenever he was treated like a normal catcher in the past.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball...Rock Chalk Talk

by Warden11 on Jun 21, 2010 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Ah, so he's the Jay Leno of baseball.

Good once upon a time, now wildly overrated and mediocre, and absolutely refuses to let someone else take his spot for even a day.

Killing time until time kills me

by EspeciallyK on Jun 21, 2010 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Seriously bro?

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8226/79849666.png

Kendall = 100% Studs fag.

Everyone who bashes Kendall..... he is a damn good catcher. Very smart behind the plate. He has great BAT CONTROL, which makes him a good top of the order hitter.

I'm a proud "studs fag" since 6/20/2010... are you?

by kansasjhawk044 on Jun 21, 2010 9:13 AM EDT reply actions

Everyone who bashes Kendall..... he is a damn good catcher. Very smart behind the plate. He has great BAT CONTROL, which makes him a good top of the order hitter.

I'm a proud "studs fag" since 6/20/2010... are you?

by kansasjhawk044 on Jun 21, 2010 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I dont get the choice of picture

C'MON CHEN!!! ---Will Ferrell

by averagegatsby on Jun 21, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

In Yost's defense, having had watched KC as an outsider at the beginning of the season

he may have just thought Brayan Pena was a bench coach. It could just be that nobody on the team’s ever bothered to call him on it.

batter nine you sucky

by marbotty on Jun 21, 2010 11:34 AM EDT reply actions

Who cares about his hitting? WHAT ABOUT HIS HANDLING OF PITCHERS?

The Royals ERA has to be dramatically improved over last year I would think.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 21, 2010 12:13 PM EDT reply actions

He's also done a fantastic job at handling the running game

much better than that rag-armed John Buck

Unless I'm wrong...
My Twitter feed

by Top Ramen on Jun 21, 2010 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Kendall's gamecalling skills are awesome

in a year where AL ERA is lower, the Royals ERA is higher. Awwwwwesome

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bhindepmo (follow me, because reloading my twitter page 40 times a day is kind of creepy)

by BHWick on Jun 21, 2010 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

but but but

Luke Hochevar’s having a better year! And it's all because of Kendall.

by swing and a miss on Jun 21, 2010 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Based on this analysis

Kendall is guaranteed to get a hit tonight (and maybe even an EXTRA BASE hit, at that). I can’t wait.

by Black and Gold on Jun 21, 2010 12:23 PM EDT reply actions

Don't forget to breathe

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jun 21, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

nice graphic

although the armor hides his arm tats.

"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell

by buddyball on Jun 21, 2010 12:36 PM EDT reply actions

That not his armor....

..it is his new tattoos.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jun 21, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs

awesome!

"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell

by buddyball on Jun 21, 2010 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Kendall is Iron Man

Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We’ll just pass him there
why should we even care?

Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 21, 2010 1:13 PM EDT reply actions

Hey folks...

…just joined to get a sense of what Royals fans are thinking about their team as a Nats fan not too familiar with the Royals. I’ve been interested in DeJesus (like half of MLB!) as a potential solution to our RF woes. Nats probably aren’t going to go there now with the likely increasing price.

Anyways I just wrote up a preview of the Royals for Federal Baseball and would appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

As far as the Kendall situation goes, it will be very interesting to compare Kendall with Pudge Rodriguez going forward. Pudge is off to a smoking unsustainable start that may land him in the all-star game for the Nats. Personally, I’m glad that we picked up Pudge but I don’t think that he will compare but so well to Kendall in the long run. Pudge has already had a stint on the DL that led to the godawful Wil Nieves taking up a stretch of unwatchable offensive production.

Kendall’s iron man ways + Pudge’s defense and slightly better offense = Aging free agent catcher who could contribute substantially.

Cool Hand Lannan has carried the mail in anonymity for two years. He'll carry the mail for at least two more! Give the man some defense and he'll give you the world. MOAR GROUNDERZ! MOAR DOUBLE PLAYZ!

by souldrummer on Jun 21, 2010 1:42 PM EDT reply actions

Not to get in the way of the mocking

But did you factor in Royals off days into this analysis? I’d think that would at least provide some additional data points for the middle groupings and lessen the 14+ games in a row. Perhaps days in a row of catching?

by ajblobaum on Jun 21, 2010 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

how dare you

mock the mocking!

~~~if there is one thing i absolutely know for sure its... ummmm uhhh.... uhhh

nevermind

by who am i? on Jun 21, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

He would get days off yes, but so does every else. If you think of a good way to look at it let me know

I picked my grouping based off the smallest time interval where he 12 days and I divided it up.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jun 21, 2010 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Jeff

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you.

I guess what I’d suggest is that a true off day will help a catcher more than other position players given the lower body and back stress that catching entails. So, the days off may help Kendall and other catcher’s recover. Just as a for instance [and the “nice” thing about BPJ never playing], you could take a look at how Kendall responds over the course of consecutive days catching rather than consecutive games catching. I just got the data for back to back days catching, here is what I came up with:

Normal Use [1-2 days]: 83 PA .193/.313/.261
Defendable Use [3-4 days]: 61 PA .164/.230/.193
“Hot Hand” Use [5-6 days]: 52 PA .327/.404/.438
Kendall Only [7+ days]: 69 PA .290/.362/.391
Just for fun subset [10+days]: 32 PA .250/.344/.414

Beginning on April 23 and ending May 9, the Royals played a game on each day. Kendall played in every single one of them.

It is a remarkably small sample, but it appears that the more days Kendall has played in a row this year the better he hits/gets on base. What I find odd is that the 10+ data subset directly contradicts what you had for the 10+ games in a row [meaning that some of the games in a row don’t correlate with days in a row]. Or, for the non-believers in small-sample sizes, that if Kendall goes 10+ days in a row of catching, if there is a physical day off, then you sit his ass the next day.

by ajblobaum on Jun 22, 2010 1:22 AM EDT up reply actions