Tagged: Lucas May

Kendall to have shoulder surgery, out for season

Royals catcher Jason Kendall will undergo right shoulder surgery on Friday and is out for the season, manager Ned Yost announced on Wednesday.

“He had an MRI on his shoulder on Monday and it showed extensive tearing in his rotator cuff,” Yost said. “It will be somewhere between eight to 10 months before he’s back.”

Although Yost said he hoped to have Kendall back “by the spring,” even just eight months would carry through the first month of the 2011 season in April. Kendall will be in the second year of his Royals contract.

Yost said Kendall was injured in mid-July sliding into a base against Oakland.

The catching for the last 30 games will be handled by backup Brayan Pena and Lucas May, just called up from Triple-A Omaha.

Kendall, who’d been an iron man behind the plate for most of this season, played in 118 games and batted .256.

–Dick Kaegel

Podsednik traded to Dodgers for two Minor Leaguers

The Kansas City Royals traded left fielder Scott Podsednik to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night in exchange for two Minor League players.

The Royals received catcher Lucas May and right-handed pitcher Elisaul Pimentel. May was assigned to Triple-A Omaha and Pimentel to Single-A Burlington.

Podsednik, hitting .310 in his first season for the Royals, had just extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games in the Royals’ 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon.

May, 25, was hitting .296 with 11 home runs and 45 RBIs in 73 games for Triple-A Albuquerque. In eight Minor League seasons, the right-handed hitter has career average of .260 with 87 homers.

He played for Royals coach Eddie Rodriguez last fall as Team USA won the 2009 IBAF World Cup.

Pimentel, 22, was 9-3 with a 3.49 ERA in 17 games, including 16 starts, for Great Lakes in the Single-A Midwest League. He had 97 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings.

Podsednik was signed by the Royals last winter as a free agent.

–Dick Kaegel