I think Jason Kendall is fast approaching he who shall not be named's career record of 275 consecutive starts. Ridiculous. Once again, Kendall is in the lineup again today. What does Mike Rivera have to do to get some playing time?
Kendall has looked awful at the plate since July 1 and looks fatigued behind the plate. Rivera meanwhile has hit each time he's been inserted in the lineup, granted it's a small sample size, but still.
Dear Ned,
Jason Kendall is going to die behind the plate. Stop starting him every single day, especially when we're playing in the dirty south heat like Atlanta and the humid Cincinnati. Stop playing him day games after night games, and start giving him at least one day off a week. Kendall is currently third among all catcher in games caught, only behind LA's Russell Martin and the douche bag Geovany Soto.
Here's the difference between our situation and those two:
Dodgers have no backup catcher, they were using Gary Bennett for a while, so Martin is clearly their only option
Soto is an All-Star and having a tremendous year, plus I've actually seen Hank White getting quite a bit of playing time lately, so Lou knows something about not running guys into the ground and resting regulars, something Nedly is familiar with.
I'm convinced the only reason Ned didn't discipline Prince for attacking Manny Parra on Monday wasn't because it wasn't a big deal, but rather he knew if he suspended Fielder he'd have to start Rivera in his place.
Here's a fun game for anyone going to any of the games against the Nationals this weekend, survey the crowd around you and ask them who the Brewers backup catcher is. I can almost guarantee most will say Damian Miller.
