15 Key Pirates Position Players for 2015: #15 Jose Tabata

2014 Statistics

186 AB/.282 BA/.314 OBP/.333 SLG

2015 ZiPS Projections

.265 BA/.322 OBP/.356 SLG/.300 wOBA 

Why the Ranking?

I know that this seems crazy, but looking over who was left out, it is hard to imagine a scenario where they add more value than Tabata could.  Of the options left off the top 15, their are three subsets: prospects, utility infielders and extra outfielders.  The prospects are Alan Hanson, Josh Bell, and Elias Diaz.  Bell and Hanson have yet to make an appearance in AAA and Diaz has only ten appearance above AA.  The Pirates do not rush their prospects so there is little chance any of the three make it up to the major league roster.  Of the three I would guess Diaz would have the best chance to see playing time.  He fits the style of catcher the Pirates have been using lately and the depth at catcher is the most likely to blow up.  Cervelli has a long injury history, Stewart has also had some durability issues and Tony Sanchez throwing issues could become a major concern.  

The utility infielders left off the list that could have possibly gotten some consideration were Pedro Florimon, Steve Lombardozzi, Justin Sellers Robert Andino and Jake Elmore.  They are all pretty much the same exact person.  If there is a scenario out there were either receive considerable playing time at any point during the season I would love to hear about it.  The additions of Sean Rodriguez and Jung-ho Kang this offseason have fixed the depth issue that had Brett Morel and Michael Martinez receiving playing time.  

So this left us with group of outfielders who all could conceivably see some time on the big league roster.  This includes players such as Gorkys Hernandez, Mel Rojas Jr and Keon Broxton as possible center fielders and corner outfielders like Tabata, and Jaff Decker.   With three virtual center fielders on the roster already, having that skill set really doesn't have too much of an effect on this discussion.  Additionally Rojos and Broxton  have not seen much of Triple-A.  Hernandez may have some value in the field, but there is little chance he would see anything more than defensive substitutions and pinch runner opportunities in the majors.  At 25 Decker still has a chance to break out at the major league level, however, I just don't see him putting it together this year.

And this is what leads us to Jose Tabata.  There is a decent chance that he will never play another game with the Pirates as he has obviously fallen out of favor with the team.  Still he has shown that he can put up solid platoon numbers and play in the MLB.  If I had to guess between him starting 5 games this year or him being out of the organization by the All Star Break I would choose the latter.  Until that happens, I will list him as the 15th most important position player for the Pirates 2015 season.