SAN FRANCISCO — Gabe Kapler spent one of his final major-league seasons in Milwaukee, playing alongside Jason Kendall. Kapler marveled that summer as Kendall, who was then 34 years old, crouched behind home plate to catch 149 of the Brewers’ 162 games. He was durable.
The Phillies manager recently thought of his former teammate when the Phillies began kicking around ways to manage Jorge Alfaro, who caught 21 of the team’s 26 games in May before finally sitting on Friday. Could Alfaro, a big and strong catcher, be as durable as Kendall?
“It’s a question that we’ve been talking about quite a bit,” Kapler said.