Through 11 games, the Yanks outfield prospect is hitting .400/.468/.600. Yes, he's batting .400 (and even has four steals without being caught once). He does have 13 strikeouts though, which needs to be kept in check. Regardless, he's tearing up a notorious pitcher's league and ballpark. Baseball America's #2 Yankee prospect may jump to Double-A Trenton after the All-Star break (even with a probable regression in the coming months). From there, it's just a hop, skip and jump to the Bronx. His year will have a major impact on whether the Yanks exercise their 2008 option on right-fielder Bobby Abreu (Tabata's position).
Meanwhile, Jeff Karstens made a great rehab start for Tampa tonight (4 ip, 0 r, 3 h, 5 k, 1 bb). He may pitch Saturday's game in Boston.
5 comments:
Great to see Tabata doing well. We need some more high-end position prospects to get it in gear (Nacci, Jackson, etc.) Hopefully, the recent Latin signings will start to bear fruit.
Speaking of Abreu, is it just me or does he look bad on defense. Overall, the team D has been mediocre, and is making our patchwork staff needlessly work harder.
The only guy not playing crappy D is A-Rod. And he's likely gone after this year.
Rant off :-)
The Yanks under Cash Money have really begun to use their wealth in more areas than just ML FA signings. especially evident in the farm system. they landed the biggest name in last year's Latin signings, catcher Jesus Montero, who recently turned 17. abe almonte is another potential superstar. they have a ton of young latins now, and just by sheer quantity, some will become MLers.
re: Abreu, he looked quite bad in the oakland series. i think part of that was his unfamiliarity with the Big A. he looked especially lost out there, moreso than i can recall in any other ballpark.
i cringe every time the ball is hit to DJ. that's how horrible he's been so far. but he can't be this bad all year. i'll say (and hope) it's just one of those bad starts for him.
Yeah, if Abreu and Jeter simply catch the ball this weekend, they sweep the A's. Still ticks me off about it. Hopefully, their D picks it up.
Though I'm concerned about Jeter. If Gonzalez can prove that he can hit at Scranton, then Cash has to start thinking about the 'move'. It's inevitable. The question will be how soon.
Almonte and Montero are definitely worth watching. Another younster generating a buzz is Urena -- Pat from PinstripesPlus is very high on him.
right, urena too.
by the 'move,' do you mean moving DJ to 1b? i think, at least for this year, that Matsui should move to 1b, which would upgrade both the offense (getting our 9 best hitters in the lineup) AND defense (getting Melky into the OF).
i just looked up Abreu's day-by-day. before this weekend, he had played just 3 career games in oakland. his unfamiliarity is understandable.
I would prefer Derek in CF, Damon to 1B and Matsui as the full-time DH next season. Perhaps wishful thinking, but I think it could work.
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