The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Pittsburgh Pirates – INSIDE PITCH
Maybe Pirates’ outfielder Jose Tabata isn’t a bust after all.
It once looked as if the Pirates made an awful decision in signing the outfielder to a six-year, $15-million contract extension during the latter stages of the 2011 season. He had an awful 2012, hitting .243 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 70 games and being banished to Triple-A Indianapolis for six weeks in the middle of the season.
The Pirates used their last minor-league option on Tabata last summer, which meant they would have to try to clear him through waivers if they ever attempt to send him down again. Some in the organization privately admitted last winter that they wouldn’t be averse to a team claiming Tabata just so the Pirates could shed his contract.
However, Tabata is starting to show signs this season that he may still be part of the Pirates’ future.
He lost 20 pounds over the winter and won a platoon job in right field with Travis Snider. The right-handed hitting Tabata plays mainly against left-handed starting pitchers.
Tabata is hitting .294 with two home runs in 28 games and it’s conceivable that he could start taking away at-bats from Snider, who has yet to hit a homer in 34 games and 90 at-bats this season. Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle started Tabata against Milwaukee right-hander Kyle Lohse on Monday night and he responded with three hits.
Tabata also started Wednesday againt Brewers’ righty Yovani Gallardo, although he went hitless in the 3-1 Pirates’ win.
“We forget that he is still a young player,” Hurdle said of the 24-year-old Tabata. “He’s not a finished product. Sometimes the loss of playing time, the possibility of losing your spot in the major leagues can be a motivating factor. I can’t say with certainly that is the case with Jose but he certainly has taken a step forward so far this season.”
Tabata wanted to play winter ball in his native Venezuela but the Pirates instead asked him to work with a personal trainer in Miami during the offseason. Tabata said he not only got his body in better shape but put his mind in a better place.
“Last year was a big disappointment to me,” Tabata said. “I did not play well at all. I didn’t always feel my mind was in the game. I never felt right. I know I’m a much better player than the way I played last year and I want to prove that this year.”
———————————————–
MLB Team Report – Pittsburgh Pirates – NOTES, QUOTES
RECORD: 23-17
STREAK: Won two
PAST 10 GAMES: 6-4
NEXT: Brewers (Hiram Burgos 1-1, 6.86) at Pirates (Francisco Liriano 1-0, 1.69)
PLAYER NOTES:
–INF John McDonald was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained lower back. McDonald was injured while batting in the 11th inning of Tuesday night’s 4-3 victory over Milwaukee in 12 innings. He lined out to finish the at-bat then was removed from the game. There is speculation the 38-year-old McDonald might wind up being released as he is hitting just .065 in 16 games.
–INF Jordy Mercer was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis just two days after he was optioned there when 2B Ben Walker came off the disabled list. Mercer was hitting .333 with one home run in 26 games at Indianapolis. Mercer started at shortstop and went 1-for-2.
–SS Clint Barmes was not in the lineup Wednesday even though he is hitting .372 (16-for-42) in his last 14 games. He was rested following the 12-inning game a night early.
–3B Pedro Alvarez did not start against Milwaukee RHP Yovani Gallardo. Alvarez is 0-for-17 in his career against Gallardo and 0-for-8 so far in the series against the Brewers after going 6-for-11 in a four-game series against the Mets last weekend at New York.
–RF Jose Tabata got his second straight start against a right-handed starter Wednesday and went 0-for-2 with a walk. He had gone 3-for-5 with two doubles Tuesday. The right-handed hitting Tabata primarily plays against left-handers as part of a platoon with OF Travis Snider, a left-handed hitter. Tabata has 10 hits in his last 18 at-bats.
–1B Gaby Sanchez started against a right-hander rather than his platoon partner, 1B Garrett Jones and went 0-for-2 with two walks. Sanchez got the nod because he entered the game 7-for-19 in his career against Gallardo.
–LHP Francisco Liriano (1-0, 1.69) will make his second start for the Pirates on Thursday night against Milwaukee. Signed in the offseason as a free agent, Liriano began the season on the disabled list with a broken bone in his upper right arm before being activated from the disabled list last Saturday and beating the Mets in New York that day. Liriano allowed one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Liriano is 4-2 with a 3.76 ERA against the Brewers in eight career games, including seven starts.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We know what we get into when we face him and he does a pretty good job usually against not just us but a lot of different teams. It was just another one of those games where we had to scratch and claw and take advantage of the opportunities we had.” — 2B Neil Walker, whose two RBI hit was key in a 3-1 win Wednesday.
———————————————–
MLB Team Report – Pittsburgh Pirates – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–RHP Jeanmar Gomez (right calf tightness) was forced from his May 12 start after being hit on the leg by a ground ball. He is expected to make his next start May 17 against Houston.
–RHP James McDonald (sore right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 1. He started playing catch in mid-May, but he will not advance to throwing off a mound until he is pain-free.
–INF John McDonald (strained lower back) was placed on the 15-day disabled list May 15.
–RHP Charlie Morton (Tommy John surgery in June 2012) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. He left his rehab start May 3 with Triple-A Indianapolis after three innings because of shoulder inflammation. He hopes to make a four-inning rehab start for Double-A Altoona on May 17, when he’d be on a 65-pitch limit.
–RHP Jeff Karstens (right shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. He began a rehab assignment with Class A Bradenton on May 13 and is scheduled to make a second start on May 19 in which he will pitch four innings and be on a 60-pitch limit.
–INF Chase d’Arnaud (left thumb surgery in March 2013) had a torn ligament repaired. He went on the 60-day disabled list March 20. He has started playing in extended spring training games but figures to be optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis once healthy.
ROTATION:
RHP A.J. Burnett
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
RHP Jeanmar Gomez
LHP Jeff Locke
LHP Francisco Liriano
BULLPEN:
RHP Jason Grilli (closer)
RHP Mark Melancon
LHP Tony Watson
RHP Jose Contreras
LHP Justin Wilson
RHP Vin Mazzaro
RHP Bryan Morris
CATCHERS:
Russell Martin
Michael McKenry
INFIELDERS:
1B Garrett Jones
2B Neil Walker
SS Clint Barmes
3B Pedro Alvarez
INF Brandon Inge
INF Gaby Sanchez
INF Jordy Mercer
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Starling Marte
CF Andrew McCutchen
RF Travis Snider
OF Jose Tabata
———————————————–
