Pittsburgh Pirates Jose Tabata Off To Quick Start In Winter Ball

The Pirates agreed to allow Jose Tabata to play for the Caribes de Anzoategui team in Venezuela.

Jen Langosch released the story on the Pirates website.  Tabata made his debut on December 8 and quickly got started where he left off during the Pirates 2010 season.   Despite how well the Caribes club does, Tabata will not be allowed to play further than the end of December the story states.  Even if the club reaches the playoffs. 

It’s a very interesting decision by the Pirates to allow certain players such as Ronny Cedeno to play baseball non-stop, but to make a different case for Tabata.

"“I think it was a situation where we challenged Jose to make sure he was doing what he needed to do for his career in Pittsburgh,” said director of player development Kyle Stark."

Nonetheless, it hasn’t taken Tabata long to get the team going.  In his first appearance,Tabata had five plate appearances for the Julio Franco coached club.    He walked twice and had two hits.  The Caribes are playing .500 baseball at 22-22 and are three games back in the standings.

Gorkys Hernandez is also on the team along with other notable players such as  Jonathan Herrera, Victor Martinez, Carlos Zambrano, and Rafael Betancourt.

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