Jason Kendall to Undergo Shoulder Surgery

Jason Kendall is out for the next eight-to-ten months as he’ll require shoulder surgery. Not just a snarky Royals fan’s latest joke, but a reality. Playing Kendall virtually every day likely did not help his body. Catchers do not age well, and asking a 36-year-old to catch nearly 90% of the innings played is a bit much. But you know what? Kendall caught 91% two seasons ago, and was over 80% last season too. That’s not a defense of using Kendall that much, not at all, but my real issue here is not that Kendall got injured or played that much. My issue is the original contract itself calling for two years. I won’t rehash that argument either. Instead, I’d like to pay tribute to Kendall’s career if this winds up being the last time we see him in the majors. For a string of years Kendall was one of the best hitting catchers around. Here are his run values (park-adjusted too) from 1997 through 2000: 17.3 33.5 22.8 27.4 From there, things go downhill a bit, although he managed a string ...