José Tábata

José Tábata
Tabata with the Pittsburgh Pirates
Tigres de Quintana Roo – No. 31
Outfielder
Born: (1988-08-12) August 12, 1988 Anzoátegui, Venezuela
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 9, 2010, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics (through 2015 season)
Batting average	.275
Hits	438
Home runs	17
Runs batted in	126
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2010–2015)

José Nicolas Tábata (born August 12, 1988) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder for the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican Baseball League. He was an international signee (2005) of the New York Yankees and, by 2008, became the Yankees' No. 2 prospect. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2010 through 2015.

Baseball career

Yankees system

At the age of 17, and in his first year of professional ball, Tábata led the Yankees farm system in batting average when he hit .314 for the Gulf Coast Yankees in 2005.

In 2006, Tábata batted .298 for the Low A Charleston RiverDogs. The same year, he was selected to participate in the XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game as a member of the World Team, which consisted of 25 highly touted prospects from across the globe. In the game, which was part of the festivities for the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he played center field while going 1-for-3 with a single off fellow Yankees prospect Phil Hughes.

In 2007, Tábata played for the Single-A Tampa Yankees.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 26, 2008, Tábata was acquired by the Pirates with Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen from the Yankees in exchange for Xavier Nady and Dámaso Marte.^[1]

Tábata was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to make his major league debut on June 9, 2010. He subsequently singled for his first major league hit in his first at bat.^[2] In the top of the fourth, with Neil Walker at bat, Tábata collected the first stolen base of his career. He then tallied his first run of his career, on a single from Walker on the next pitch.

In 2010, he batted .299, and led National League left fielders in range factor/game (2.09). He tied for 8th in the voting for NL Rookie of the Year, behind Ike Davis of the New York Mets.^[3]

On August 21, 2011, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington announced a contract extension for Tabata through 2019. Tabata signed with the Pirates through 2016 for $14.75 million guaranteed, with a $250,000 buyout, and an additional three club option years for 2017–2019.^[4] July 2, 2012, Tabata was sent down to play minor league baseball for the Indianapolis Indians. Tabata was recalled on August 19, 2012, when Starling Marté was placed on the Disabled list.^[5] Tabata started the 2013 season off well. On May 25, 2013, Tabata was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Tabata was batting .272, with 2 homers, 6 RBI'S, and a .744 OPS in just 36 games with the pirates. Tabata's .744 OPS was just two points off of his career high OPS which is .746. Based on the standard recovery timetable for oblique strains he figures to miss the minimum of 15 days. Jose finished up the 2013 season with 6 homers, a career best.

Tábata was outrighted off the Pirates roster on June 24, 2014.^[6] He was re-added to the roster on August 25, 2014. He was designated for assignment on October 3, 2014.^[7] He was called back up by the Pirates on May 19, 2015.

Max Scherzer perfect game controversy

On June 20, 2015, Tábata faced Max Scherzer in the ninth inning, after Scherzer had retired the first 26 batters in order for the Washington Nationals. On a 2–2 count, a pitch inside clipped Tábata on the elbow guard, ending Scherzer's chance for a perfect game. After Tábata took first base, Scherzer induced a fly ball from the next batter that was caught by Michael Taylor, preserving a no-hitter for Scherzer. Tábata faced criticism from some baseball fans and analysts after the game for allegedly leaning into the pitch, although he said afterward he had expected Scherzer's slider to break back toward the plate.^[8] Scherzer said he did not blame Tábata for breaking up the perfect game, adding, "I probably would have done the same thing."^[9][10][11]

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 31, 2015, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Michael Morse.^[12] He was assigned to the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers, where he hit .225 in 28 games in 2015 and .244 in 30 games in 2016.^[13] Tabata was released by the Dodgers on June 11, 2016.^[14]

Tigres de Quintana Roo

On June 30, 2016, Tabata signed with the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican Baseball League.

Personal

On March 23, 2009, Tábata's wife, Amalia Tábata Pereira, who is 23 years his senior, was arrested and charged with abduction after allegedly kidnapping a 2-month-old girl in Florida by posing as an immigration officer; the baby was found unharmed in a shopping center later the same day.^[15] Tabata told the media that Pereira, whom he married in January 2008, had told him that she had given birth and that the baby was his.^[16] They divorced in early 2010. Tabata remarried in early 2011 to Auromar and the couple have a daughter, Barbara (born September 29, 2011).^[17][18] Tabata also has lips tattooed on his neck.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)