Pirates notebook
Kendall shifted to leadoff spot in lineup shakeup PITTSBURGH (AP) – For the near future, and perhaps longer, Jason Kendall is baseball’s most highly paid leadoff hitter.
Kendall, in the first year of a $60 million, six-year contract, led off for the first time this season as the Pittsburgh Pirates played the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.
Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said the move is more than a one-game experiment and is designed to take advantage of Kendall’s ability to get on base and relieve some of the pressure on center fielder Chad Hermansen.
Hermansen, getting his first extended look as a starer since his failed one-month trial in 2000, has led off since coming off the disabled list May 11. He has shown power with six homers, three leading off a game, but was hitting only .208 through 34 games with 45 strikeouts in 145 at-bats.
Hermansen dropped to seventh Wednesday, and McClendon plans to keep him in the bottom third of the order.
“He has a chance to be a good major league player,” McClendon said. “I don’t want him to take this as a demotion, and that’s why I called him into my office to talk about this.
“This will take some of the pressure off him. If you look at who we have on the field right now, Jason Kendall is best suited to be the leadoff guy.”
Kendall is batting .292 after slipping to a career-low .266 last year, playing nearly the entire season with a badly injured left thumb that led to reconstructive surgery only days after the season ended.
However, the latest switch is a gamble because Kendall tends to hit better from lower in the order, although his lack of run production – he has driven in more than 58 runs only once – doesn’t make him ideally suited to hit fifth or sixth.
Last season, Kendall was the Pirates’ most-used No. 1 hitter, but he hit only .247 in 58 games leading off compared to .342 as the No. 5 hitter. This season, Kendall has hit sixth 35 times, third 18 times and second eight times.
Kendall has said repeatedly he doesn’t care where he bats in the order as long as he plays every day.
“We’re trying to make things as comfortable on Chad as we can,” McClendon said. “He’s getting an opportunity he’s never had at this level, and I don’t want him to think he’s failed. We’re going to continue to run him out there.”
The move gives the Pirates adequate speed with Kendall and shortstop Jack Wilson at the top of the lineup and excellent speed with Hermansen and second baseman Pokey Reese at the bottom. However, McClendon doesn’t expect Kendall to be the base stealer he was when he stole 26 bases in 1998, the most ever by a NL catcher.
Kendall badly injured his right ankle a year later, and his stolen bases slipped to 22 in 2000 and 13 a year ago. He had seven steals in 11 attempts in his first 63 games this season.
“He’ll pick and choose his spots to run, but I don’t think you’ll see Jason Kendall run the way he did three or four years ago, because catching 140 games a year takes a toll,” McClendon said. “But I still think he’s capable of stealing 17-20 bases a year.”
The move is the latest in a number of lineup shakeups by McClendon as he tries to squeeze as much production as possible from a lineup that has ranked near the bottom of the NL in average, home runs and on-base percentage all season.
“I hope we eventually get to the point where we don’t have to tinker with it,” McClendon said. “When we have a set lineup, we’ll know we’ve arrived and we’re ready to compete for a championship.”
MANZANILLO WATCH: Right-handed reliever Josias Manzanillo, limited to one appearance by an injured right elbow, plans to throw again Thursday.
Manzanillo had surgery to remove bone chips from the elbow last month, and has yet to regain his velocity. Until he does, he won’t begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment.
“He’s going through his dead-arm period,” McClendon said.
It probably didn’t help that Manzanillo cut back his off-season program until he re-signed with the Pirates in February, after failing to land a contract elsewhere.
NOTES: After a 2001 season in which nearly all their farm clubs had poor seasons, the Pirates are encouraged so far by the play their top two Class A teams. Lynchburg was 47-23 and lost a tiebreaker based on head-to-head play with Wilmington for the Carolina League’s first half championship. Hickory (44-26) finished first by a game in its South Atlantic League division. … Double-A Altoona also has a winning record. Short-season Class A Williamsport and Bradenton of the Gulf Coast Rookie League began their seasons this week.