The Pittsburgh Pirates have some injuries and one player with injury phobia

Most teams in Major League Baseball have some injuries at this time of the season. The Pirates Andrew McCutchen rolled his ankle and then gingerly kept playing. Neil Walker was sent to his house with some pills and was told to rest his aching back. Erik Bedard, one player who typically always has an injury, stayed relatively healthy all season. Bedard was released today. And finally, the Bucs Jose Tabata must have been watching all of this, because Clint Hurdle said Tabata is afraid of getting injured.

Just another day in August for fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Clint Hurdle did an interview on 93.7 The Fan and it certainly was interesting.   He spoke about the inconsistency of Erik Bedrad not getting the Bucs to where they want to go.  But the thing that struck me the hardest was that he feels Jose Tabata is still worried about getting injured.

You will hear it in the link below when host Gregg Giannotti asked Hurdle what he has seen from Tabata since he was recalled.

Hurdle sounding not like his normal chipper self, flipped the question, Hurdle asked, “what have you seen?”

Giannotti used the word spacey which Hurdle wasn’t fond of, and also questioned the routes he takes in the outfield.  Hurdle mostly agreed and made some compliments about how his outfielder is hitting, but one thing stuck out and hasn’t really gone away.

Hurdle mentioned that Tabata is worried about getting injured.  So the question we have to ask is why?  Is this a mental thing?  Physical thing where he might be nursing a bit of an injury?  How can a manager fix the mind of a player like Tabata?

It’s hard, now it’s impossible for Tabata to return to the player he was in 2010 playing with that mindset.  It surprised me.

August 27, 2012: Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Jose Tabata (31) is congratulated by teammates after scoring to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Pugliese-US PRESSWIRE

The focus of the interview was on Erik Bedard who was released today from the Pirates organization, but Hurdle mentioned Neil Walker‘s injury and  the fact that someone is on their way from Triple-A Indianapolis today.

Hurdle wasn’t sure how the stiffness in Walker’s back could impact the decision on who is recalled.  Yamaico Navarro–the Amish God of Walks?  Could be…could be.

Hurdle also mentioned that Andrew McCutchen got checked out by the training staff during the game.  He was ruled ok to continue to play.

The interview is now up at the 93.7 The Fan website.  Here is the link.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in need of some healthy players.  Jose Tabata just might be that guy.  [UPDATE: Jordy Mercer is out on paternity leave, Tabata up]

The Pirates demoted the outfielder to Triple-A Indianapolis on July 3.  He was having a miserable season despite playing in 256 games for the Pirates in his young career.

Regarding Tabata’s demotion, Hurdle said,

“He’s not a lazy player. I think there’s just some confusion going on right now. You see balls drop in front of him. He wants to catch them. He doesn’t make a good first move and he backs off. It’s all about first movement, whether it be in the box, swinging the bat. There’s just some indecision. And I think sometimes we’ve just got too much going on upstairs.”  Clint Hurdle

From a sheer numbers standpoint, Tabata looks good at Triple-A.  The outfielder initially sulked, according to Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington, but has played some good baseball according to Hurdle.

An interesting post from Nancy Zinni noted that Tabata is hitting for average, but hasn’t actually hit the ball all that well.   It’s difficult to tell from just reading game recaps, but Zinni has been on the scene in Indianapolis forever and her opinion should be held in high regard.

Looking at Tabata’s numbers, it shows he has had some very solid stretches of baseball.  During one such stretch, he batted .432 and posted a .500 OBP over ten consecutive games.  His most recent stretch of games, doesn’t really impress, especially considering the valued opinion of someone on the scene.

Nevertheless, the Bucs are hurting and  Kristy Robinson reports that Tabata is on his way to St. Louis, maybe he can start becoming the player we all thought he would be when the Pirates gave him a contract extension one year ago today.

Some fans are jumping off the Zoltanic

Want to know what I don’t want to happen today?  The phrase that has been used so much recently.

If the season ended today, the Pittsburgh Pirates would be in the playoffs.

We think it’s a really dumb comment.  The season doesn’t end today, but we get it.  As much as we think it’s dumb to say, we understand it.  Actually, we don’t want it to go away.

But it seems like the Pirates need a fresh face or two.  New blood will be coming, it’s only a matter of when.

So until then we dug up some video on some players that might help.  Here is what we came up with you guys.

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Chris Leroux is dominating in Triple-A.  The right hander let the Pittsburgh Pirates know he wanted to be a starter again after clearing waivers this summer.  Damn.  It’s a great thing he did.  The guy is tearing it up.

Jeff Clement rips a thing of beauty below.  But you know what, Clement is hitting .176 in the past ten games.  A call-up for the first baseman doesn’t seem evident at this time. Clement’s comeback is a great story, his bat coming off the Pirates bench would surely help, maybe just not right now.

Justin Wilson has serious heat, but just look at this filth.  He obviously wants to be a starter, he responded with a no-no when the Bucs let him know he was going to the bullpen.  We admire that, but wonder if having Wilson in the bullpen would really help.   We could see him coming up and being Hurdle’s last option out of the pen.  So, really the help might be minimal.

Kyle McPherson is enjoying his promotion to AAA.  He has made two starts with impressive results.  McPherson is a guy that would soak in a September promotion.  We trust it happens, we are big fans of the right hander.  He is also a double black belt, which is cool….real cool.

Jose Tabata is having a nice August.  If Snider is hurt yet again, Tabata needs to be brought up.  It might be the easiest of these decisions.

Yamaico Navarro could replace Josh Harrison.  That would be a good thing, a really good thing. Navarro has eight homers and a solid OPS in AAA, although Brock Holt has been the shortstop, Navarro could play short to spell Barmes against the fly ball heavy Pirates starters. We think he would be a better option off the bench, not ideal, but better.  Harrison might be the top hitter of the bench, I think he’s around .230, the rest of the bench is actually hitting for a worse average as hard is that to believe.  The bench needs help.

Tony Sanchez is the wildcard.  Strong defense, good-not great arm.  It definently is interesting to think about, especially with the power strokes, maybe September is the time. He has an .822 OPS in his past ten games.