Pirates To Promote Jose Tabata, Brad Lincoln
by Charlie Wilmoth on Jun 8, 2010 9:56 PM EDT
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Dejan Kovacevic tweets. One of those roster spots will be taken by Brad Lincoln, who will pitch tomorrow. It hasn't yet been reported who will take the other one. Taschner had a 6.05 ERA with the Bucs. Clement hit .227/.295/.360. I still have some faith that he can make himself an everyday player, but I don't have any problem sending him back to Class AAA for a while--I didn't like watching him any more than anyone else did.
UPDATE: Kovacevic writes that Jose Tabata is on his way along with Lincoln:
And, in a surprise that materialized after the 5-2 loss tonight, Jose Tabata, the top outfield prospect, will join him.
Neither move will be formally announced until tomorrow, but multiple sources have confirmed the pending moves.
Garrett Jones will move to first base to make way for Tabata.
This is interesting, but it makes some sense--it's not like Tabata was setting the world afire in Indianapolis, but he was playing pretty well, and he's posted basically the same statistical line at so many stops that it might be that he can keep doing it in the majors. Other than Steve Pearce, who's hurt, and Jones, the Pirates don't really have anyone right now who's commanding playing time at first and the corners. I wasn't expecting to see Tabata so soon, but I'm pleasantly surprised.
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Maybe a Catcher
heard Doumit got dinged tonighht
He was dinged Sunday
And was unavailable tonight. Per the pregame PBC Blog, unavailable until at least Friday.
My first thought was Tabata, but Kratz seems more plausible, at least for the next few days.
What’s Kratz’ contract/roster/options status?
Needless to say, I’d rather see Tabata, but I won’t complain about the FO making a rational decision wrt catcher. Esp since, with Clement gone, the closest they have to a backup C is Walker, and I don’t think he’s caught a single pitch since DL was GM. Ack.
Kratz isn't on the 40 man roster
Maybe why they had to clear a spot with Taschner? Walker caught in spring training this year I believe but he is our starting second baseman too
OK
Glad to hear he wore the gear in the recent past. I’m fine with that as an emergency (after all, how many emergency C appearances happen each year?).
I was honestly imagining a guy back there who hasn’t caught a FB or a serious breaking ball in 4 years., having to do it for 8 innings after some fluke injury.
After puttin up tonight's crap
Please be PEDRO!
by BadAndy on Jun 8, 2010 10:03 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I think Baltimore may have Rendon locked up. Hopefully not though. For as bad as we’ve been, it’s to bad we couldn’t of been just a litttllle worse.
i am depressed after tonight. Might as well be really bad
and turn this thing around quicker, do a NBA punt
by eyeofhorus777 on Jun 8, 2010 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
DFAing Taschner
According to BuccoFans he has an option… Did they needed to clear a 40-man spot for a catcher?
I was wondering about that. If Doumit can’t play at all, sending Clement out removes the only backup C.
Right
JJ gets a bat to the side of the head (knock wood). As I say, unlikely, but alarming if there’s no plan for it.
A few months ago I was saying that one thing I liked about Clement (and Walker) is that they provided an emergency option so that JJ could be used off the bench. I understand why JR would be reluctant to use his backup C in a pinch hit role, but it seems crazy to use an effective 24-man roster just in case some fluke injury happens to your starting C in the 8th inning (or whatever). If you have some kind of plausible emergency C, you can (responsibly) use your #2 C as a normal bench player.
I didn't think of that until I saw Tachner has an option
If Doumit is out more than another day and they sent Clement down, I think that is probably what it is
I heard Walker did some catchin drills recently
by BadAndy on Jun 8, 2010 10:14 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I would doubt it’s Kratz. Jaramillo should be fine catching for the next day or two while Doumit recovers and if absolutely need be, Walker could catch.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
I don’t see why they wouldn’t let Clement stick around an extra two days if that was the case so he could emergency catch if that was the case
Well it sounds great but it’s out now, he’s already been demoted.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
I was just pointing that out to emphasize that's why
I think it will be a catcher the more I think about it
now that I think about it...
I think it will be Kratz. They have been working Doumit out at 1st and I think he might play there w/ JJ catching. I hope it’s Tabata. Hs is most ready IMO.
Yinzers uber alles
Good Point on Doumit playing first
I would still send Kratz back down when Pearce comes back though and switch Doumit between first and catcher
I don’t want to see Doumit playing first. Not now, not ever. That was a downright disaster the first time he tried it.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Play Doumit...
in RF…he’s done it before…although he injured his wrist making a diving catch when he did it several years ago. 8/13/2007 on a line drive to short right by Matt Cain. He had 5 assists out there in less than 40 games.
As bad as his defense has been...
there are only 4 catchers in the league that have provided more value to their team than Doumit. If we deal him it should be for a legitimate haul.
I thought it was concussion like symptoms that kept him out...
I don’t believe it was the rist. If indeed it was concussion issues due to the foul pitch playing him in right doesn’t help. Besides, I don’t think he has enough bat to make up for how horrendous he is in the OF. Believe it or not it is worse than it is behind the plate. Doumit is a catcher. We should trade him before moving him to a new position.
It's not the wrist.
The wrist was 2007, thumb 2009. At least in RF or at 1B, he doesn’t have to worry about a foul tip to the mask.
When i said switch him between catcher and first
I meant occasional starts a first… like once a week maybe
Goladymail makes a solid point
I like DIESEL TSHIRT as an option behind the plate.
Sorry, I now I should ignore the spammers.
Making snide comments about spam bots isn't going to hurt anything
It’s not like a troll that feeds off responses, the only difference it would make if people actually clicked on the bots’ links.
You're right
As a bot, GOLADY doesn’t know or care. I’m thinking of other forums with real trolls/spammers.
Also, a you can see, I DO know how to spell “know”.
anyone surprised
Lincoln wont make his debut at home?
I know we’ve known about this for a while, but it hadnt really registered with me before, with the draft and strasburg!
little bit
They asked NH about this on his show and he didn’t seem to give it much weight. I think at home would be better so he would have support. I also think it would draw a good crowd.
Yinzers uber alles
I don't think very many fans would decide to go to a game just because Brad Lincoln is making his MLB debut.
Jose Tabata as well.
Pedro Alvarez could get a few more people excited with his power potential.
Cutch got a serious hometown jump
On a random weeknight in early June (I made an unplanned visit). Lincoln’s no Cutch, but still – it would help.
You mean weekday?
I think Cutch made his debut in a day game.
by IAPiratesFan on Jun 8, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
But if Lincoln struggles in home debut...
There will be plenty of ppl all too eager to boo him, I imagine.
You're right
I was there – I can remember my seat. But you know, summertime, late sunset, I just remembered that it was daylight when I got there.
I was actually annoyed about the McLouth trade* at the time, but it wasn’t going to cost me Cutch’s debut.
- I was ambivalent about its baseball value – I didn’t and don’t like Morton much, even though I didn’t love Nate – but mostly I viewed it as a white flag on 2009 and 2010. And there’s no question that the FO has made no effort to compete at the ML level since those trades, whatever the merits of that decision.
Yea but...
you see what being even somewhat competent at the MLB level gets a rebuilding team. Tony Sanchez instead of Strausburg. I HATE watching this team play like crap, listening to people talk crap about the organization, ect… but drafting the Strausbergs, Taillons, Harpers, Rendons makes it all much easier to take.
"So you think 25 percent of the country is retarded?! Yea. Atleast 25 percent. Well lets so a sample. There are 4 of us an you're retarded. Thats 25 percent." Southpark; Mystery of the Urinal Deuce
by gorillakilla34 on Jun 9, 2010 12:25 AM EDT up reply actions
THIS
we should send back Tabata and Lincoln, not bring up Alvarez, send back Walker, trade Duke Maholm and Doumit, and go with a rotation of Burres, Karstens, Eveland, Morton and Ohlendorf.
Lets get RENDON! Do it, Neal!
I'm so in agreement with this it's not funny
I literally root for the Pirates to lose. I don’t buy into the “winning culture” and “progress” idea. For me, individual progress is more important right now (not saying I want guys caring about individual stats or achievements, but as building blocks for the future). Not that I don’t like Tony Sanchez or the draft strategy last year, but the future would look even brighter if Strasburg had been wearing a Pirate uniform last night.
I want Rendon, or whoever proves themselves to be worthy of the #1 pick next year. Period. This may be overly dramatic, but each Pirate win now could be a Pirate loss in the future, when it will matter so much more
Da'Sean Butler - A Mountaineer Legend
by McCutchenIsTheTruth on Jun 9, 2010 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions
meh.
It’s frustrating that the Pirates weren’t quite bad enough at the right time to get Strasburg, but 1) I don’t really think the Nats future is brighter than ours; I think they’ll be mediocre to decent sooner, but nothing more. 2) Next year’s draft is super-stacked beyond Rendon, and 3) as much as I’ll sacrifice the present for an awesome future, I still want to see quality baseball in Pittsburgh, even if that just means they’re competing hard without actually managing a winning season.
The 20-0 loss to the Brewers really cemented that for me; much as I hated DL’s mediocrity strategy, completely abandoning the present is just depressing, and I don’t think it’s necessary either.
I don’t think it’s a huge deal. Don’t want to baby the starters too much. Plus, if we’re projecting, he’ll start the first game at home against CWS then the final game against Cleveland, which should both draw good crowds, especially the Cleveland game on Sunday afternoon.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
The crowd comment is an after thought but something like 5,000 people walked up to see Cutch’s debut the day after Nates trade. I think 3,000 for Lincoln or Tabata is reasonable. Pedro might be 5 or more. Tallion might look like the Nats game tonight.
Yinzers uber alles
When Pedro comes up...
they will draw a big crowd for the first home game no matter what.
Tough one...
with Clement going down my guess would be Tabata. With him in the OF they would slide Jones to 1B.
Hiarlious :)
OMG Rocco’s blog post about NH about the draft is hilarious http://www.wpgb.com/pages/extra.html
Yinzers uber alles
Always listen to Rocco
If you want about the only intelligent Pirates talk on the radio.
Well, regular talk. Dtoddwin’s always good when he’s on.
Just finished up. He aired an interview with Huntington and Taillon at the end.
by MarkInDallas on Jun 8, 2010 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Are these podcasts
Free? Where can I get them?
It only makes sense...
if there is a forthcoming 40 man roster move. Which is why I suspect a catcher.
I think RF will be GFJ
I think his test will be next year when we have more hitters to bat around him.
Yinzers uber alles
I think for the most part, Jones will get pitched to the same as now whenever the lineup has better hitters. It’s not like he’s going to start getting meatballs like 2009 all over again.
by Adam Reynolds on Jun 8, 2010 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions
He didn't get meatballs last August or September
And he hit just fine. If you think he was seeing meatballs after 10 HRs in 20-odd games, you’re nuts.
I think that, with a bit of protection, he’s a 4-5 HR/month player, which is fine.
Dejan's hunch...
is Tabata. Pearce isn’t ready, and he’s convinced it is NOT Pedro. He said the Pirates have really clammed up about the corresponding move to Clement. I still wonder though…about an emergency catcher if JJ gets hurt.
I could think REALLY far outside the box, had Sanchez not gotten beaned over the weekend.
Ha
As in bring Sanchez up for a day until Doumit gets back?
Depends on how highly they think of him...
and how much they feel he progresses this season. There were a few people that thought he’d be in the majors this September (I’m not on that list). If a September callup was realistic…then yeah…up for a day now wouldn’t be a bad thing.
I’m still trying to figure out why Taschner was DFA’d and not optioned though.
BTW…Pedro just hit a triple for Indy.
Beat me to it, Thunder.
I’m excited. Tabata is going to be fun to watch.
by Suffering Buc on Jun 8, 2010 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I have seen Tabata a few times in person. He has really impressed me. I’m pshyched if it’s Tabata however. I think it’s time. I have tix in Indy on Fri and I don’t know what I’m going to see. It could be ugly in Indy.
Yinzers uber alles
Moss-Van Every-B. Jones in the outfield.
Anyway, any guesses as to our lineup tomorrow night?
LF Tabata
2B Walker
CF McCutchen
1B Jones
RF Church/Milledge
3B LaRoche
SS Cedeno
C Jaramillo
P Lincoln
Looks a whole lot more tolerable than tonight’s, especially once Doumit gets back.
What an exciting day for baseball in general.
by Suffering Buc on Jun 8, 2010 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions
For me
CF Clutch
2B NFW
LF Blastings
1B GFJ
3B Luigi
SS Bandito
RF Tabata
C Jaramillo
Only reason I have Tabata in the bottom of the order is because we’ve been so top-heavy as of late. If we can get someone on base out of the 7th slot that is an immediate threat on the basepaths, that’d be a huge plus here.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Boston sent him back, yes. I think for a PTBNL.
by Suffering Buc on Jun 8, 2010 11:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Funny move
I saw a reference to that last week, but couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.
Van Every = pawn.
C/IF Josue Peley
So, not a PTBNL, but no one notable.
Hey, an out is an out - unless you're Mario, in which case it's probably two outs. -UtesFan89
Hard work always beats talent if talent doesn't work hard.
LangoschMLB
“Source: Jose Tabata has been told to head to DC; he and Brad Lincoln will join #Pirates on Wed. as 2 of the big 3 AAA prospects make debuts”
DK
“Pirates NOT bringing up Alvarez. Looks like Tabata is going to be choice, but not confirmed by anyone anywhere.”
Confirmed
http://twitter.com/langoschMLB
Jennifer Langosch confirmed it about 45 minutes ago, although it just says “source”, so no specifics as to who reported it to her yet.
Tabata.. I am happy for, but..
What more does Pedro have to do? Andy Lacroche is worthless.. Hopefully Pedro gets moved soon.. I am a huge Pedro fan and think he should have been up by now..
What
An exciting and crazy last couple of days.
Draft Porn
VIA whygavs on twitter
http://www.jamesontaillon.com/
RIP NATE. RIP TONY PLUSH.
"I'D BE A CHEF"
-TONY PLUSH
If it's Tabata...
and once Ryan gets healthy…
and once Pearce comes off the DL….
and when Pedro gets the call….
I’d go with:
Tabata LF
Walker 2B
Cutch CF
Jones 1B/RF
Pedro 3B
Doumit C
Milledge RF/Pearce 1B
Cedeno SS
pitcher
Until Pedro gets here, I would leave Andy at 3B and hit him 6th with Doumit hitting 5th.
According to DK
It’s set. Tabata.
Seriously, if you’re in the area (or if you can get out of work early in Pgh), get to this game. This could be a debut we all look back on.
I will be there
Three rows above our dugout.
by RichieHebner on Jun 9, 2010 12:24 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Pedro should be called up… What does he have to prove in AAA while our third basemen sucks.. Seriously, hope Pedro gets out of this team soon.
What is the rush?
He’ll be here before the end of July. He’s made improvements at AAA. Let him continue to get a little work and perhaps get on a tear.
in 2013 you will be glad that Pedro stayed down and improved rather than being rushed. His numbers just don’t warrant being called up yet, and the current play at 3B is almost irrelevant. If he has a June and July more like May then I think it will be justified.
Here is a link to his #’s. Notice how similar he is at AA and AAA in G and ABs w/ much lower average (expected) and the same Ks and BBs. He needs to improve those #s IMO.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=alvare001ped
Yinzers uber alles
Interesting
It looks like pretty much the exact same performance…the lower average this year is kind of irrelevant, his BABIP at Altoona last year was unsustainably high. And I don’t know how much progress we can expect to see WRT strikeouts at this point in his career, what you see right now is probably what you’re gonna get.
We should get to see within a few weeks if he can replicate that performance in MLB.
The kid has done everything asked of him.. He has played well. What is his average up too?
Its a shame the Pirates continue to throw that minor leaguer LaRoche up.. Pedro numbers would towers Laroche’s right now.
Bottom line, this organization continues to NOT throw their best possible players out there.
I will give the Bucs til the end of June, if Pedro isn’t up, I will be majorly mad.
The Pirates would be well advised . . .
to consider the call up date of Alvarez unaffected by LaRoche’s struggles. It is MUCH more important to the Pirates to ensure Pedro develops than to worry about the 3B position in Pittsburgh in 2010.
+100 Scranton
2010 is meaningless. The good news is that the NH IMO knows that and is unlikely to be influenced.
Yinzers uber alles
PSUnate77
“The kid has done everything asked of him.”
He’s not a kid. He’s a grown man. And how do you know that he’s done exactly what the Pirates have asked?
Go ahead and get “majorly mad”.
Give Pedro Alvarez a half season’s worth of games at 3B in Pittsburgh and watch how little range he has at the hot corner and then you’ll see why 1B is his eventual destination.
The Pirates are doing a good thing to keep him down at Indy and improve.
If he had signed in 2008 to play the last couple months of the minor league season and stayed in shape, he might already be in Pittsburgh.
There are going to be a lot of growing pains with Pedro in the ’Burgh. Strikeouts galore to go along with some big hits, plenty of misplays in the field as well.
He will bring some more hope, but don’t get your hopes up too high.
Yeah, lets put him at 1B, Keep him down a few more years, let him leave go to a better club and watch him kill us..
Don’t understand all the Alvarez hate..
Since when does being realistic=hate?
I never said he will stay in the minors much longer. The All-Star break is sounding more plausible by the day.
He should be a good power hitter for us for many years to come, if he makes enough contact to overcome the inevitable high strikeout totals.
And many people throughout baseball have said they expect Alvarez will have to move to 1B in the not-too-distant future.
You and Milledge85 need to put aside your man crushes and be more objective when looking at your favorite players.
There's no realism to your argument
No, the All-Star break is sounding more stupid every day. Pedro’s average and OBP continues to climb, so yes, it makes total sense to keep him in the minors even longer.
If he makes enough contact? He only has 50 RBIs and 12 homers right now, but you’re right, he doesn’t make any contact because he’s fanning at everything. Does it really matter whether you ground out or strike out? No. It’s an out either way. Also, Ryan Howard, David Wright, Evan Longoria, Mark Reynolds, Jason Heyward, Jayson Werth, Josh Hamilton, Chris Young – guess what, they’re all proven power hitters in this league and they’re all on the leaderboard for strikeouts. You’re telling me none of them make enough contact to overcome their 50+ strikeouts?
Does it matter what all these “experts” have said? You say the Pirates are right in keeping Alvarez down for now. The Pirates are also saying he will stay at 3rd base.
Oh, and he’s got his 5th multi-hit game in June already, going 2-for-2 with a triple, home run and 2 RBI today. He’s also hitting .323 since the beginning of May, but he’d definitely drag the team down with those abysmal numbers, right?
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
i will say this, i never put away the man crush when it comes to jose tabata, he is the man.
anyways, ill agree with you that power numbers are good and can help overcome the K rate, but Pedro strikes out at what could be called an alarming rate. is he improving, yes, can he still be better, certainly. just because guys in the majors with power are striking out alot doesnt mean we want that too.
the guys in those lineups also have a much better supporting lineup to pick up on their slack when they K.
Ill say this, if Pedro keeps this pace up for another week or two, he deserves the callup. but give it a few more weeks.
I know he’s not perfect, and yes he does strike out a good amount. But his plate discipline has also improved significantly. His K/BB ratio in April was over 3, but from May til now, it’s been more than cut in half to 33K/22 BB. The fact that he’s drawing a lot more walks is great to see.
You don’t want to replicate what other hitters do, but you sometimes just have to accept what you have. Some people on here won’t be happy until Pedro is hitting .500, never striking out and leading AAA in every offensive category. That just isn’t going to happen. My point was more that there are a lot of successful players in this league now that strike out more than you’d want. With a power hitter like El Toro or any of the guys I mentioned before, they can be feast or famine – you take some strikeouts but you’ll also be getting a ton of power and a home run threat.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
He is not striking out at an alarming rate....
That is just not accurate.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jun 9, 2010 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Pedros
K rate is higher than the majority, one could say that is an alarming rate, i mean its not off the charts bad, im just stating it could be better ya know
"Higher than the majority"?
What does that even mean?
He’s striking out at a 22% clip. That, compared to other great power hitters, is relatively low if you look at what they were K’ing at the minor leagues.
Plus, he is also walking in the mid-teens, something like 14%. And, when you look at this splits, his K’s have been decreasing ever since the beginning of the season.
And, his hitting against LHP is around, if not over after today, .300.
The only thing that is holding him back, in my eyes, is that he is still gaining instruction at fielding 3B. His batting……is where it should be, or where it projects to be. It really is…
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jun 9, 2010 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions
How many times does it have to be said to you, BP34, that the Pirates want Alvarez to improve defensively before his arrival in Pittsburgh?
If they want him to stay at 3B for any extended period of time in the majors, he’s still got work to do, and this is one of the reasons he’s still at Indy.
It’s good that Pedro’s numbers continue to improve at AAA. But what you fail to understand is that the Pirates are looking for him to do certain things with a CONSISTENCY that would lead them to believe he can replicate his performance after taking a huge step up to the major leagues.
It’s not a Super Two issue anymore, so they obviously are not quite convinced he’s ready and believe he would benefit from another 2 weeks? 4 weeks? in the minors.
They are making this decision, not you or me, and they know a lot more about the game than either of us.
Beyond just the defense
One month tearing it up(on offense) doesn’t mean he’s figured it out. Evidently he has implemented most or all of the adjustments asked of him, or he wouldn’t be hitting like this. That doesn’t mean they’re locked in to stay; call him up too quickly and the jump in competition will force new challenges. If the previous changes (made in AAA) aren’t cemented in, he could easily lose them, causing him to perform badly for a while, or even permanently screwing with his approach.
In general, and especially developing a highly-trained skill, you just can’t do everything at once. Give him time, to make sure he becomes a great player, not just a good one.
Note that I'm not claiming that this is definitely the case.
… I’ve never seen Pedro play at AAA, so I don’t know. I’m just making a general point, which may well apply to this situation.
If they care so much about defense, as you make it seem, then why are DY and Doumit still in the majors?
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Because they are way past the development stage...
and defense has been the one reason DY isn’t an every day player. Doumit last year was an average defender this year he’s really bad. Even being bad his bat makes up for it but it is still keeping him from reaching his max potential in overall value. All that being said I don’ think Pedro is far away offensively or defensively. I think he’ll stay in Indy for a couple of weeks while the team tries to figure out what to do with Laroche.
Why don't you actually watch a game of his?
By your comments, you have not.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jun 9, 2010 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions
JUST WOKE UP!!!!
AWESOME WAY TO START MY DAY!!!!!
ALL I CAN SAY IS JOSE TABATA! JOSE TABATA! JOSE TABATA!
Going to tonight's game
And sitting three rows above the Pirates dugout. Assuming there is no rainout (doesn’t look good at the moment, unfortunately), I’ll send some observations. Any other DC area folks going?
by RichieHebner on Jun 9, 2010 12:21 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Radar shows...
once the system moving through DC passes, it should clear up in time for the game. Only other weather threat is a smaller batch of storms moving through Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
by OldHossRadbourn on Jun 9, 2010 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Weather looks nasty
but I’ll be there. I think I’m behind one of the dugouts but not really sure. I am QUITE upset they all shaved their mustaches before this series.
Pedro
is having a fantastic afternoon. 2-2 now with a triple and a homer against Pawtucket. I think calling him up for the first game against the White Sox on the 15th at home would be almost perfect.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
Pedro is pissed at Neal......(HAHAHA)
And, taking his frustration out on Pawtucket.
Love seeing him hit, lately. Good eye, getting hitters counts, making them give him hard stuff, and then beating the piss out of the ball, to all fields.
The announcers are saying that they are constantly teaching/telling him to look away against LHP, and, if it comes inside, react to it. That is exactly what he is doing today….
His 3B was to LT-Center, his HR was on a curve inside-half, and his 2B was on a fastball down the heart of the plate.
All of this, today, against a LHP.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jun 9, 2010 3:09 PM EDT reply actions
Warms my heart
The bat is there – although I kind of agree with giving it another week or three to make sure it’s not just a hot streak – but I worry about the glove. I know that Andy’s been subpar with the glove this year, but A. Pedro will make Andy look like Brooks Robinson, and B. no good reason to rush Pedro’s glove; if he’s going to stick at 3B for any length of time, he needs practice and instruction, not a bunch of major league errors and missed plays.
I admit I’d feel differently about this if it were Aki or DougM at 3B right now.
Don’t think the bat is any kind of hot streak. He’s been hitting .328 since the beginning of May.
I also don’t think he’s that bad defensively. You’re always going to have errors at third, that’s why it’s called the hot corner. I think a few of his misplays in Indy weren’t helped out at all by the field conditions, which usually aren’t as good as MLB fields. But either way, it’s not like once he gets to the majors he stops learning – he’ll be able to get instruction and practice fielding with the Pirates too.
There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.
It's not about errors
It’s like Daniel Mccutchen. He doesn’t really have much to learn at AAA except a knuckleball, he just lacks the skills (a major league fastball) to be successful for the Pirates. If Pedro can’t cut it at 3B by now, it’s because of range and mobility, not hands and throwing accuracy.
The team seems to be clearly willing to live with whatever defense he gives us though. The reason they’re holding him down is because of Laroche. They aren’t ready to just give up on him yet and I imagine they’re researching their options (gauging trade value, seeing if Walker can keep this up, evaluating Milledge in case they need Garrett back in the OF, seeing if he can come out of his slump). A couple more weeks of information will help greatly.
Agreed
Keeping Pedro down doesn’t hurt anything. It gives them time to see who is going to stick this season. They have 4 spots (2 of, 3b, 1b) available right now if Walker can handle 2b. They have 7 players who can play those spots. Obviously 3 players are going to have to be sat for long periods of time once Alvarez is up and someone sent down or DFA.
Once Pearce is healthy it gets interesting again, especially if Pedro gets called up.
The problem with Pedro coming up is he has to play 3b. So Laroche has to move somewhere. What if Pearce is still cranking it up? Have a 3 way split of 1b? Play Tabata in LF? Move Pedro to 1b this year?
by eyeofhorus777 on Jun 9, 2010 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions
There IS a reason to rush the glove,
because his bat is ready. We need his prime. His prime will be due to his bat. If the glove isn’t ready, put him at 1B.
If the Pirates had any balls, they wouldn’t worry about that minor league hack Laroche (Little Worthless) They would release him..
Sound like Taillon won’t be a Buc too. According to MLB he looks like he is going to Rice.
What are you talking about?
Do you have a link you could provide. No way we draft him at #2 if we weren’t sure he’d sign.
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