Brayan Pena Has 34 Plate Appearances
by Freneau on Jul 8, 2010 5:45 PM EDT
in Kansas City Royals News
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PrintOur backup catcher has 34 plate appearances in 2010. Although he's spent an entire season with the team, this is the smallest number of any position player on the current roster.
34 plate appearances is just... nothing. Even Alex Gordon got 38 plate appearances. Dick Ankiel was given 69 PAs before he disappeared. Wilson Betemit has seemingly just arrived and he's gone to the plate 53 times. Guys who aren't even regular or entirely healthy players have PA totals in the hundreds, like Getz, who has 123 PAs.
We've talked about Kendall's constant playing time at catcher a few times, but this is the first time I've looked at Pena's numbers from the offensive side. Last season the Royals were so interested in Pena's bat that they DHed him a few times and he was a fairly frequent pinch-hitter late in games. Perhaps that was a Hillman thing, because he simply is never playing now. Pena had an astounding 13 PAs in June. 13!
This isn't meant to be an anti-Kendall post. I consider that topic to be pretty much covered. The Royals have their crazy Kendall love, and it's misguided and counter-productive and just silly. The Pena side of it is in some ways more remarkable. You just don't see a guy get carried on a team for this long, playing this little. And the amazing thing is, nothing about Pena has changed. He hit enough to be interesting in 2009, and he's done so in his monthly starts this year. 2010, however, is the year of STABILITY, (some) guys play every day.
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Really not to big of a deal to me. He won’t ever be more than a back up and that’s what he’s doing now. He just backs up a guy who we’re getting our moneys worth out of.
Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.
Kendall is old and is coming back next year
maybe giving him 150 starts will ultimately not be our money’s worth
Dayton's trying to capture 100%
of Kendall’s contract value in the first year. Then Kendall’s 2011 “performance” will just be a bonus.
"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae
"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 8, 2010 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions
"won't ever be more than a back up"
a) self-fulfilling prophecy
b) isn’t it worth seeing if he might give the team a little boost once or twice a week when they can live without giving perhaps the worst hitter in baseball the second most plate appearances?
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 8, 2010 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
But Kendall handles the bat well on hit-and-runs
Which is exactly what you need from a #2 hitter.
signed,
Cap Anson
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Jul 8, 2010 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Countersigned
80% of the Royals Fans facebook group
by Soria's Unibrow on Jul 8, 2010 10:10 PM EDT up reply actions
It's a big deal because he's better than the guy who is getting 97% of the playing time at that position
Kendall really, really sucks. Do you think Brayan Pena couldn’t have managed 0.4 WAR if he’d played as much as Kendall this season? Of course he could and would have, and much cheaper.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Jul 8, 2010 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions
The fundamental problem with the Dayton Moore Era
Paying for (debatable) marginally better production from someone making substantially more money. Money wasted on Kendall, Ankiel, Jacobs, Crisp, Ramirez, Pods, Yuni, Cruz, (need I continue) would have been better served spending on one, actually good, player.
Teams need hugs, too, Will
Stability at the plate. Stability in the dugout. We’re eight good days, and a couple dozen good hugs, away from first place.
"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae
"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie
yea
if three other teams go on 8-game losing streaks at the same time
I didnt realize how close we were
which is not only highly unlikely, but likely impossible
I’m guessing without looking it up.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
by Royal Kingdom on Jul 8, 2010 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions
Well...
Detroit plays the Twins next so….it isn’t going to happen now!
Tension is the enemy. - Charlie Lau
by aHorseWithNoName on Jul 8, 2010 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions
but what if they tie
Would you like to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or my blog...well you can't.
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 8, 2010 8:45 PM EDT up reply actions
What we really need to contend
On some late Sunday afternoon, two airplanes carrying two of the three teams in AL Central contention collide somewhere over the US. Meanwhile, Selig decides to contract the 3rd team.
(Assumes we can maintain our slim lead over the Indians)
"We're gonna win with pitching and defense" General Manager Dayton Moore, circa winter 2009
"Where did all these Indians come from?" General George Armstrong Custer, circa summer 1876
My heart says no, my head says yes.
C'MON CHEN!!! ---Will Ferrell
by averagegatsby on Jul 8, 2010 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions
The opposite makes sense...
Therefor it wont happen.
I really want him to play, but since Im used to my heart being crushed by this team…
C'MON CHEN!!! ---Will Ferrell
by averagegatsby on Jul 8, 2010 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Man, I'm just happy to have all the good reading material on a day off!
Yost doesn’t really seem to pinch hit at all. Is it safe to ball Pena a defensive liability? If so, I can see how they’d have a hard time fitting him in.
yeah if there's one thing this organization won't stand for
It’s horrible defense
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 8, 2010 6:10 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
and plus hands
Marriage is a great institution, for those that like being in institutions.
hey if you make an ERROR
you are benched. Unless you are Kendall or Yuni.
by swing and a miss on Jul 9, 2010 2:30 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't understand
the kendall thing is baffling enough, but Penas not even getting pinch hit opportunities!!! I don’t understand why he can’t even get a shot to hit for kendall or betancourt in the late innings. I know yuni’s had a couple big hits late, but come on.
Especially when
They have a perfectly suitable emergency catcher in Mitch Maier – who caught in college.
Not that its at all likely you’ll need your emergency catcher.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
Something I just noticed
Jose Guillen, our “power” hitter, has 1 HR over the past 30 days.
Though he is batting .330.
I'm ashamded to admit I saw this when browsing my fantasy team
As I am a not-so-proud owner of jogui.
it's what happens when you've been banged up all year
Guillen is also terrible v. LHP due to injuries, probably to the point that every LHB outside of Ankiel is better v. LHP than Guillen.
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bhindepmo (follow me, because reloading my twitter page 40 times a day is kind of creepy)
Another factor is that many, if not most, of Pena's appearances
Have been in very low leverage situations.
She thinks she missed the train to Mars; she's out back counting stars.
Huge pain in the ass
The talent differential between the two seems almost non-existent. Kendall doesn’t hit for power whatsoever and he hardly has a canon to second. So where’s the justification for all the playing time? If it’s “grit” or “leadership,” someone can kiss my ass. Having Pena’s potential pop in the lineup now and then would be swell.
Place witty signature here.
Hate to say this...
but Kendall is 11th in the league in his walks to strikeouts ratio
by Official Arrowhead Pride Parade on Jul 8, 2010 8:48 PM EDT reply actions
Stats...
You can make anyone look good if you ask the right question… This stat doesn’t incorporate groundouts… In this case I think the archaic batting average stats are more applicable in assessing Kendall’s ineptitude.
Jesus, you know I’m drunk when I sound that pretentious… My apologies everyone, I hate the words I used…
by Tracer Bullet 82 on Jul 9, 2010 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Normally we'd agree
but look at the 10 in front of him, that’s pretty decent company.
We’re not saying this justifies anything other than the slight feeling that our personal dislike for kendall might somehow be vaguely subjective.
by Official Arrowhead Pride Parade on Jul 9, 2010 12:43 AM EDT up reply actions
You'd think that Pena...
would get some more PH opportunities the longer Jose is nursing his blisters. I mean who are we gonna use as a PH, esp if Mikey Mike starts at 2B and Beat-a-meat is DHing. I would guess Yost could find some spots to use a switch hitter with some power in the late innings.
Nobody can say that Kendall has an advantage over Pena
with any credibility. Brayan hasn’t played enough to make any sort of valid assessment. It’s ridiculous. Of course, he wouldn’t be our number two guy, anyway. I can’t decide who SHOULD be in the one and two spots.
Place witty signature here.
Even Jason LaRue got to play more than this
And he absolutely, positively sucked.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
The Reds paid more than half of it
But I still find mind-boggling that LaRue was paid $5.45M in 2007, in a year when he hit .148 in 195 PAs, .512 OPS. He was a pretty good offensive catcher until he turned 32, then he fell completely off the cliff.
He hasn’t been nearly as atrocious in StL though. Maybe its the new facial hair.
Not to mention
That LaRue was another classic DM veteran player acquisition. We paid $2.5M of LaRue’s salary. I think I had forgotten about this out of selective memory. Thanks for bringing it all back.
We should clone...
Jason Kendall so he can bat in all the spots…a gritty lineup wins championships.
by Jojothebeachbum on Jul 8, 2010 11:05 PM EDT reply actions
OT from O Royals and Isotopes tonight
Kila went long, had great AB’s needs to be brought up and see what the guy can do.
Ankiel got picked off at 2nd base…. his timing is a little off missed a fly ball to center that he should have had, got a bad jump and had to dive and missed it badly, they scored on that play.
Alex Gordon is not ready to be brought back up. Every AB he had was awful. He did have a nice play in left catching a fly ball inbetween two other royals.
Hernandez pitched well although the balls that were hit were hit deep, warning track deep.
are you kidding me?
Gordon hit two ropes, popped out, and walked in a long AB.
R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
yeah, I was gonna say
hilarious to read that comment after one of the few games in which Gordon avoided a K
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 9, 2010 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
for what it's worth
he didn’t look too bad on defense either.
i don’t think the defense would be noticeably better or worse if you put him in LF today.
R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
Yeah, but we need to keep Podsednik's trade value up
so we can get some insurance in return just in case Eric Basurto gets hurt
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Jul 9, 2010 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
He does it on purpose
on account of his bad attitude and because he doesn’t listen to his coaches. BUST1
"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae
"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 9, 2010 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Pena has a sweet deal
He gets a big league salary, travels the country, stays in fancy hotels, and eats for free without doing (hardly) any work! Who wouldn’t sign up for that? No wonder he wants to retire a Royal. Bonus: Gets to be beloved by fans due to his virtue of being not Jason Kendall.
by swing and a miss on Jul 9, 2010 2:35 AM EDT reply actions
It all makes sense
Who wouldn’t want to hang out with a fun group of guys like we have?
by Soria's Unibrow on Jul 9, 2010 5:09 AM EDT up reply actions
And give them all hugs
"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae
"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie
by Sweep_the_Leg on Jul 9, 2010 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions
It's Like Being
Favre’s backup.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Jul 9, 2010 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions
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