I thought that Kendall "Called a Great Game"
by Saberilliterate on Jul 26, 2009 8:29 AM CDT
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PrintSince those in the know love talking about how so much of Jason Kendall's value is in 'calling a great game', I would like dispute that and connect it to Manny Parra's struggles.
Manny's struggles are well documented, but can they be attributed to Jason Kendall?
Manny has 16 starts. 14 of them have been caught by Jason Kendall. 2 by Mike Rivera. Those two were his first two back from the minors after the all-star break.
In the 14 starts caught by Kendall, Manny pitched 69.2 innings gave up 93 hits, 22 doubles and 10 home runs. He walked 44 and struck out 58 for a SO/BB ratio of 1.32:1. Opponents had a split of .320/.408/.512/.920
In the 2 starts caught by Mike Rivera, Manny pitched 13 innings gave up 8 hits, 2 doubles and no home runs. He walked 4 and struck out for a SO/BB ratio of 3.25:1. Opponents had a split of .170/.235/.213/.448
Manny's first two starts back from AAA were caught by Mike Rivera, with his last start against Atlanta caught by Jason "calls a great game" Kendall. His first two games back was the Manny Parra, we were all projecting him to pitch like. On Friday, he regressed back to Manny 2009.
So since we have a large sample size of two starts, I think that I have definitively proven that Jason Kendall does not call a great game and that Manny's struggles are not Manny's fault, but they clearly rest on Jason Kendall's shoulders.
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This is why I think Kendall is a Witch
Kendall spreads his succubus-like suck to the players he plays with, and he gets them to blame themselves for his suck rubbing off on them. Kendall does not call a great game, he’s just great at hypnotizing people to think that his pitch calling is an asset.
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
Well they definitely have different pitch-calling strategies, this year anyway
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
Or you've proven that the trip to the minor leagues helped.
Or, you’ve proven nothing, and uncovered a coincidence.
All possibilities.
Saber has "proven"
some folks get it, and others don’t – apparently.
Kendall is not God…..
He sucks at the plate and he is the captain of this pitching staff.
Get him gone!
"At times I'm emotional," --Ryan Braun, 7/7/09
by heybatterbatter on Aug 16, 2009 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions
I'd like to think that
They would have Rivera catch for him next time, but I really doubt they will, unfortunately.
What was with Kendall's shaved head?....looks like a fist with eyes.
scsteve (Pirates fan)
Correction: Jason Kendall IS a fist with eyes.
Derek (Brewers fan)
Rivera knows Parra
They played in the minors together and he called Parra’s perfect game. I’ve thought all along that the manager shouldn’t be messing with what works. I’d be interested in the Pitch f/x for his two good starts, because iirc Jordan’s articles correctly, Parra’s supposed to be throwing his curve more that his change. The coaching staff wanted him to throw his change more than his curve. I want to know if Rivera is throwing to Parra’s strength and Kendall is calling what the coaches want him to call. Pitching is soooooo much mental and having a guy you trust calling the balls and strikes has got to be worth far more than someone who “calls a great game.”
Or I’m completely full of it.
So much for that theory
… a line as a four pitch slash— Fastball, Changeup, Curveball, Slider Here’s Parra’s pitch selection lines from the past two years overall:
2008: 58%/ 17%/ 20%/ 5%
2009: 56%/ 24%/ 14%/ 6%
…
So lets check out these two particular games:
v Atlanta, 6/7/09: 44%/ 30%/ 17%/ 8%
v St. Louis, 7/9/09: 65%/ 10%/ 18%/ 8%
According to Brooks Baseball’s PitchFX, for Atlanta’s last start with Kendall behind the plate:
v Atlanta, 7/24/09: 57%/ 9%/ 22%/ 13%
The algorithm probably doesn’t match Jordan’s, but I’ll hope it’s decently close enough. It looks like Kendall called a high number of fastballs, low number of changeups and he still gave up 4 ER in 5 IP. Maybe Kendall did call a good game after all. Parra’s average 4-seamer velocity was 91.7 mph and reared back for a 93.9 mph fastball, as well. I guess he was either unlucky or missing his spots.
It's tough to tell if a lot of those 84ish mph pitches are changes, splitters, or sliders sometimes
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
Kendall caught him last year in June when he was basically unhittable...
Also…
So since we have a large sample size of two starts
What? Really? Two starts is a large sample size?
Not to mention that we really have no idea who is choosing the pitches. If its a game plan from the pitching coach/manager, if Manny’s choosing the pitches.
With that said, Kendalls “game calling” abilities might be overrated. But when the pitcher pitches well…it doesn’t really matter.
I think it's called humility
I think his point was that he wasn’t arguing that he’d proven anything, but the post it was simply interesting food for thought.
by keephopealive on Jul 26, 2009 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes
About as much can be drawn from my post re: Manny as can be drawn from this post from Cute Sports where they blame Manny’s lack of effectiveness on changing his uniform number and his pant style.
It is something to think about and ponder especially since ‘Kendall calls such a great game’… nothing more
by Saberilliterate on Jul 26, 2009 5:52 PM CDT up reply actions
It's the internet
Sarcasm and the internet go hand in hand, though it often makes things a bit less interesting
perhaps Manny is afraid of shaved heads
but seriously, Is it possible that even if Kendall calls a better game than Rivera, Manny is just more relaxed with Rivera?
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, ""That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
I'm sure that's the case
Rivera did catch for Manny in the minors, so I’m guessing that they have a nice system worked out. I’d also be willing to bet that their past helps Rivera know when something isn’t going well for Manny and is more able to help motivate his teammate in a better, less GRIT-y way.
"If lovin’ Braun is wrong, I want to be a repeat offender!"
RIP Nick Adenhart - Stop Drunk Driving
No difference
Well, Rivera caught Parra today and even though he did get the win, it wasn’t exactly a quality start. Granted he was able to last 6 innings, but he gave up 5 ERs and 5 BBs in the process.
Plus, it was stated earlier that Kendall caught Parra during some of his best outings last season.
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