Games » Cleveland Indians
Apr26Jason Kendall tries to watch the Royals from home
Lee Judge
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Jason Kendall invited me over to his house to watch this baseball game. (When the team’s on the road, Jason stays home to do his rehab work.) Trying to be a good guest, I ask what I can bring and then suggest a variety of foreign beers. The response?
“I drink Bud Light.”
Remember, this is the guy that snapped his ankle and came back, is known for never backing down on the field and leads all active major leaguers in getting hit by pitches. In a world of tough guys, he’s one of the toughest. I realize I might as well have suggested we make cupcakes together. Man, this must be what it’s like to hang out with Chuck Norris: you always feel a little effete. (See? Just using the word ‘effete’ makes me feel effete.)
He answers the door, Bud Light in hand, dip in lip and tells me to come on back. He flips me a beer, says he’ll get me the first one and after that I’m on my own. I stifle the suggestion that the room could use some nice potpourri (actually, I’ve only got a vague sense of what potpourri is, but I get the sense even knowing the word would not be to my credit).
Anyway, we turn the game on and Jason tells me he hardly ever sits through nine innings. I soon figure out why: he can kind of predict the future. He tells me what pitch they’re going to throw next and what the likely result is going to be and he’s right every time. At one point, before the pitch is ever thrown, Kendall starts yelling, “No, no, no!” and Luke Hochevar gives up a bomb. Jason can’t watch any more, he leaves the room and I can hear him cursing as he roams through the house. He’s got to vent before he can come back in and watch any more.
So we do this for nine innings: we drink Bud Light, Jason periodically gets up, wanders around the house yelling and then comes back in the room to ask what happened while he was gone. (If I don’t get you a beer endorsement deal out of this, it ain’t for lack of trying.)
He tells me it’s making him crazy to watch the entire ball game. Usually, when he gets too frustrated, he turns it off and does something else for a while. At the end of the evening he tells me I can come over again, but we are NEVER going to watch another game together. He can’t stand watching a baseball game without being able to affect its outcome.
Jason Kendall might be tough, but he can’t take that.
Calling a game
- For the record, I wrote this next bit yesterday afternoon before going to Jason Kendall’s house. I figured it might be a late night (it was) and I need something in the can for this morning (I did). So Jason had no input into what I’m saying here.*
If you’re a Royals fan you’ve probably heard the team is concerned about Brayan Pena’s game calling. I don’t know if it’s because Ned Yost is a former catcher, but it seems like the team is putting an emphasis on defense behind the plate. As former umpire Steve Palermo pointed out to me last year, what a catcher does with 120 pitches behind the plate far outweighs what a catcher does with a dozen pitches at the plate (which is part of why John Buck and Miguel Olivo are no longer here). Just so you understand what the Royals are concerned about, let’s look at one sequence from Sunday’s game. Michael Young had just singled, Mitch Moreland was on second and Jeremy Jeffress had just been called in to face Adrian Beltre who had hit one to the Oklahoma border off Bruce Chen in his previous at-bat. Here’s the pitch sequence Brayan called:
ADRIAN BELTRE
94-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
94-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
94-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
95-mph 4-seam fastball (strike)
80-mph curve in the dirt (ball four)
NELSON CRUZ
96-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
94-mph 4-seam fastball (strike)
96-mph 4-seam fastball (strike)
97-mph 4-seam fastball (strike three)
MIKE NAPOLI
97-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
97-mph 4-seam fastball (strike)
97-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
97-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
96-mph 4-seam fastball (strike)
96-mph 4-seam fastball (fouled back, count still 3-2)
At this point, Jeremy Jeffress has thrown 15 pitches, 14 fastballs and one curve, which he bounced. I don’t know how consistently he can throw his curve for strikes, but he’s now thrown 10 straight fastballs, which won’t help his odds. So, on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, needing to throw a strike, what’s the pitch?
- 80-mph curve in the dirt (ball four) a run is walked in and the Rangers will get the final runs they need to win in the next sequence:
DAVID MURPHY
97-mph 4-seam fastball (strike)
96-mph 4-seam fastball (ball)
96-mph 4-seam fastball (double unloading the bases and allowing two walks to score)
There is a school of thought (and I’m enrolled there) that you don’t solve a hitter’s problem for him. In other words, if a hitter is late on your fastball make him solve the problem, don’t solve it for him be throwing something off-speed in the zone. (Key point.)
If I was managing (I’m not and you should all be grateful) it wouldn’t bother me that Pena called for that many fastballs. If they ain’t hittin’ it, why solve their problem? What would bother me is the pitch sequence. If Jeffress can’t reliably throw his curve for a strike, why wait until you have three balls on a hitter (wow, that didn’t come out right) to do it? Show the curve when you can afford to throw it in the dirt…and definitely don’t repeat the sequence that failed in the Beltre at-bat in the Napoli at-bat.
Getzie’s feet
If you’ve watched the video on this site featuring Chris Getz on fielding a groundball (and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?) you’ll hear him say that an infielder’s right foot is positioned slightly behind his left foot. Innocently enough, I asked why (the world’s greatest question, suitable for all occasions) figuring Chris would whip it some great logic I’d never heard.
As you can see, Getzie starts working his way through the explanation and suddenly reaches the point where he realizes he doesn’t know why…which is pretty funny. (Although, I felt bad because I had sandbagged him with I.Q. questions a couple minutes earlier…which was also pretty funny. But I wasn’t there to make Chris look bad, he’s one of the most likeable, intelligent guys on the team and I wouldn’t have been messing around with him if I didn’t think he had a great sense of humor.)
Anyway, I guess Chris had just accepted this foot positioning was the best way to do it and proceeded forward. Having a lot less talent, I always wanted to know why things worked the way they did…which is why I was a better coach than a player. After the interview I went home and checked one my instructional books and found the answer:
You put your left foot slightly in front of your right foot because it helps you move to your backhand (or throwing hand) side. Stand up and reach to your backhand side with your right foot slightly behind your left and then try it again with the right foot slightly in front. You’ll see how the latter position cuts you off from reaching for the ball.
This is part of what I love about the game: very little thing is thought out and has a reason. Chris Getz was absolutely right, he just didn’t know why he was right. Can’t wait ‘til he gets home to tell him.
Fielding a grounder with Royals Chris Getz and Lee Judge
Lee Judge asks Royals second baseman Chris Getz how he sets up to field a grounder during a game. 4/22/11 (Video by John Sleezer/ The Kansas City Star)
Cabrera
Gordon
Hochevar
Great article Lee. Would be nice to learn more about how the Royals and other teams do value the catcher, how much of the importance is on pitch calling, how much on blocking pitches, blocking the plate, hitting, mound interaction with the pitcher, etc. Yost said that he can only carry 2 defensive specialists (low hitters) in the American league, so do we expect one of them to be catcher?
Steve: Glad you enjoyed the article and you ask a good question. My guess is definitely. Defensively (leaving out the pitcher) the catcher is the most important guy on the field. He's going to handle the ball about 100 times more than any one else, decide what pitches are thrown, interact with the umpire, play psychologist to the pitcher and a dozen other things I'm probably overlooking.
That's why I was told the Royals didn't care what Jason Kendall did at the plate last season as long as he did the job behind it. They were tired of seeing the ball go to the backstop. (It often looked like Olivo didn't give much of an effort and John Buck tried, but was apparently too big to get in proper blocking position in time...weird, but interesting, huh?)
So when Kendall hit .256 and was one of the team's best situational hitters, the Royals considered that gravy. They would've settled for a lot less.
I hope they decide they can live with three defensive specialists. The catcher will be one, Escobar the other and I hope they leave Chris Getz right where he is. They're finally solid up the middle and Chris has his on-base percentage 100 points higher than his batting average.
Last night Kendall said Getz rarely throws away an at-bat and when you start watching for that, you see what he means: Getz takes pitches, works counts and has an idea of what the situation calls for pitch selection-wise.
In Polk's system, Chris almost always finds a way to put up positive points and help the team win.
Plus, he's funny.
(Maybe there's a reason I'm not a GM.)
Lee, given the emphasis on defense for a catcher and Steve Palermo's analysis, what do you think of the Joe Mauer situation and all the experts who take for granted that he should be moved from catcher as soon as possible to protect his bat. Are they thinking about it wrong, or is his defense more easy to replace than his bat? Thanks, love the column, now that JoPo is gone (sort of) you are my favorite read in the Star.
Effete doesn't mean effeminate.
Jeffry: Good question about Mauer. I don't know a lot about his defensive reputation, although I'm under the impression it's excellent. Interestingly enough, Jason Kendall thinks he ought to change positions. I'm guessing the reasoning is there aren't too many bats like his anbd it's easier to find a good defensive catcher.
Steve: No, effete doesn't mean effeminate, but it does mean "Characterized by unproductive self-indulgence, self-absorption or decadence" which is exactly what you feel when you've offered to bring jason Kendall Guinness Draught and Harp Lager so the two of you can make Black and Tans.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make my afternoon Caramel Latte.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the catcher doesn't decide which pitches are thrown - he suggests pitches based on his experience. The ultimate decision comes from the pitcher himself. He doesn't have to throw ANYTHING he doesn't want to.
Lee...where have you been all of my life? This stuff is great, great, great!
Love the Getz info. I hope he hits soon. I am a fan.
Do you have any comments regarding Kila's psyche, approach and confidence in the batting box? He looks lost and his BA supports it.
Chris: That's a really interesting relationship, catcher-pitcher. Pena was paired with Francis and Chen just for that reason, they're vets that should know what they want to throw and shake off if they don't like the sign. But they go to the pen and now Brayan's paired with a kid who sees Pena as the veteran who should know what he's doing.
And some pitchers, no matter how long they've been around, don't like to think on the mound and just want to execute.
So, while technically you're right, a pitcher can always shake off, there are a lot of them who never will.
Zack: Thanks, the weird thing is that all this information has always been around, it just wasn't shared with fans.
As for Kila, he told me his approach was fine, he just needed to hit his pitch when he got it. Now whether that's true or he just needs to tell himself that's true, I don't know.
I think he's very aware this is his chance and the Royals have a couple guys waiting in the wings if he doesn't take advantage of the situation.
Ballplayers need to stay even: not get too happy when things are going well or too down when things are going poorly and this sometimes gets interpreted as not caring. They care, they just know throwing a helmet isn't going to help.
Effete actually means worn out. Usage of the term to mean decadent or pampered or effeminate stems from Spiro Agnew's famous expression "an effete corps of impudent snobs" in 1969. Since then the misinterpretation of the word has become common, though it's still wrong.