The A’s starting catcher is the very definition of ‘light-hitter’; rarely does he get a hit greater than a double, and in his career with the A’s, he’s only managed one homerun, which barely cleared the fence, at that. Despite his obvious lack of power, Kendall is a very consistent hitter, and has one of the lowest strikeout rates in the whole league. Expect his season numbers to echo last year’s; he won’t have more than one or two homeruns, but he should hit right around .300. Kendall started 143 games under Ken Macha, but Bob Geren has strongly hinted at getting Adam Melhuse some more playing time, so we may well expect this number to drop slightly. As for Kendall’s defense, his numbers have improved slightly during the last year, but A’s fans would not mind if he threw out a higher percentage of runners. But if you’re looking for a catcher to take the big hits, while making the flashy plays at the plate, there’s no one better. more ›

We come to exhume Ken Macha--still, no praise. more ›