Comments on: Taking a look at Jose Tabata’s speed

By: James S

James S — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:52:00 +0000

The saddest part to me is that it has taken two whole years for most of the basic Pirates fan base and even the Pirates evaluators to finally see what was clearly visible by the end of 2010 – that Tabata has no power, no speed, no base running skills, is poor on defense, is a loafer, and pretty much adds nothing to the team overall and in reality takes away from the potential success of the team.

By: burgh_fan

burgh_fan — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:44:00 +0000

Enough of the age stuff. There is as much evidence that he is older as there is evidence Cutch is a space alien.

By: ChickenOnTheHill

ChickenOnTheHill — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:36:00 +0000

Jose Tabata is a poor player. What skills or attributes does he bring to help the team win? A declining batting average, ZERO power, poor baserunning skills, a sub-par arm and maybe average defensive coverage in the OF. Add this to the fact that he’s reportedly not the best guy in the clubhouse and has an attitude problem (http://triblive.com/sports/2108811-85/pirates-tabata-hurdle-yesterday-burnett-rhp-runs-barajas-game-games#axzz26YJeBiEH) and I can’t figure out why Tabata is on the team.

People will defend him and say that he “used to be a top prospect” and that “the Yankees were very high on him”… This was FIVE seasons ago. That’s an eternity in baseball, even for a player who doesn’t have questions about his real age.

With Marte, Snider, McCutchen and Presley ahead of him on the depth chart, plus Garrett Jones on those off-nights where he plays RF (especially if Sanchez develops), it’s my belief that the only thing keeping Tabata on the 40 man is the ridiculous contract extension he signed. He’ll need to be looking over his shoulder next season as well; don’t be surprised to see Brock Holt shagging some flyballs down in Bradenton… if he keeps hitting, they’ll need to find him some ABs, and he’s not going to unseat Neil Walker.

By: James Vargo

James Vargo — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 01:15:00 +0000

A slow Tabata is worthless. No power.

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:30:00 +0000

He’s fat–what do you expect? I’ve been saying that all year.

By: John Lease

John Lease — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:39:00 +0000

Thank you. Same with Walker, McCutchen and everyone else. Stay put, since you can’t read a pitcher and steal a base for the life of you.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Agreed. I’d like to see more of a focus put on this in the coming off season. While it’s unlikely that McCutchen will hit .350 every year, I don’t think there’s any reason that he shouldn’t be getting 30+ steals a year. Now, whether this is something that’s a matter of hiring the right coach or simply Neil getting real with the individual players, I don’t know. However, given the speed of some of the individual players, this team should have a considerably higher success rate.

By: leadoff

leadoff — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:09:00 +0000

I agree that a slow guy can steal a base once in a while, but speed helps and fast guys do get more stolen bases as a rule.

By: Tim Williams

Tim Williams — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:51:00 +0000

Stolen bases aren’t entirely on speed. They rely more on getting a good jump, acceleration, and instincts, such as knowing how to read a pitcher. The Pirates have a lot of fast players who are bad at stealing bases for these reasons.

By: wtmiller

wtmiller — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Here’s Tabata’s infield hit percentage:

2010: 13.3%
2011: 8.4%
2012: 6.4%

Major league average is about 6.4%.

My guess is that in 2010 he was about a 70 runner, but now he’s maybe a 60-65 runner at his best, but on average is probably a 50 runner.