Tag: Jose Tabata

Welcome to the PLC live blog of the major league debut for Brad Lincoln and Jose Tabata. I am using the Cover It Live software, but I will only be providing occasional updates. If you are looking for a full-blown chat, Raise the Jolly Roger is the place to go. I will kick things off around 6:45 PM.

As long-suffering Pirates fans, we are desperate for some sort of hope. With an awful major league team, that hope generally resides in the minor leagues. Brad Lincoln and Jose Tabata, the first of three prospects labeled by some as “The Big Three” before the season, are making their major league debuts tonight. With Pedro Alvarez knocking on the door, it is easy for us as fans to get caught up in the excitement of these potential tides of change. But it is important to keep our expectations reasonable.

The Pirates designated reliever Jack Taschner for assignment tonight, and optioned Jeff Clement to Triple-A Indianapolis. Taschner will be replaced by Brad Lincoln, but the second roster move will not be announced until Wednesday. There are unconfirmed rumblings that Jose Tabata will be the one promoted to Pittsburgh.

While Jose Tabata is certainly having an encouraging year at Indy, a .786 OPS at Triple-A should not be considered big numbers. He is hitting .316, but it is mostly empty batting average. Many fans expect him to be called up to Pittsburgh within a few weeks and inject some offense into the Pirates lineup. I just don’t see that happening.

On Monday, Dejan reported that we might start seeing some Triple-A players arriving in Pittsburgh. So when should each player be promoted? Click here to find out when Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, Brad Lincoln and Neil Walker should arrive in Pittsburgh.

Between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis, the Pirates have a group of eight position players fighting for about five spots in the everyday lineup. Obviously, not all will pan out, but it is difficult to determine exactly which ones will succeed long-term. Luckily, each player comes with some versatility, which gives management some options when filling out a future lineup card.

Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Pirates trimmed the roster to 49 this morning. Top prospects Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata were sent to...

Jose Tabata shows a glimpse of his hidden power in today's batting practice session.

Baseball America and Project Prospect released their top 100 prospects lists today. See how the Pirates fared.

I just stumbled upon some video from the Arizona Fall League, via John Sickels' website. This was posted back in November, but I...