Pirates To Give Former All-Star A Homecoming

After spending 9 years in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, averaging over .300 and making three All-Star teams, 47-year-old Jason Kendall is back with the franchise. The Pirates will be hiring him in a player development role. 

"It just feels like I’m back home," Kendall told The Athletic's Rob Biertempfel. This is the team that drafted me. This is the city that watched me grow up through good times and bad times... “I’m back in Pittsburgh. Back where I belong.”

Of his new role, Kendall says "I told the Pirates whatever they want me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll go down and watch minor-league teams and certain players. Catching is what I know, but I also can talk to the kids as someone who’s been there, done that."

To start with, he'll be working with the Pirates' No. 1 prospect, catcher Henry Davis, who's now at Double-A.

Henry Davis on working with Jason Kendall: "It was really, really beneficial for me It was so much less about on-field performance; we didn’t talk about swing mechanics or catching and whatnot. It was about how to manage a game, how to manage a staff, how to talk to umpires."

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) May 10, 2022

This isn't the first time Kendall attempted to rejoin the organization that drafted him. In 2019, he tried out for the vacant Pirates manager's position, but lost out to Derek Shelton, who still holds the job today. 

Over the course of a 15-year career, Kendall caught 2,025 games, 6th on the all-time list. He finished with a .288 average, a .744 OPS, and, in the most unique stat for a catcher, 189 career stolen bases.