Two New Uniforms Needed

Go into the Pirates clubhouse lockerroom, change the "Taschner" to a "Lincoln" and the "Clement" to a "Tabata". Finally, some guys who don't suck.

I'm not sure which is better, Tabata joining the team, or Clement leaving it.

Jose Tabata has been fantastic in AAA this year, hitting .308 with a .373 OBP with an amazing 25 steals in 53 games. Those numbers were deserving of a call up weeks ago, but the extra games in the minors could only have helped him. Now it's time for Tabata to take his place in left field for the Pirates, a spot where we hope he will occupy for years to come. My guess is that Tabata will hit leadoff for the Pirates, which will move McCutchen to the 3-spot and make for a pretty solid top of the order. We will no longer have to see Lastings Milledge or Andy LaRoche in the 3-hole striking out with runners on base.

The other roster spot belongs to Brad Lincoln, who will make the start against the Nationals tonight. Lincoln was 6-2 in Indy with a 3.16 ERA and a beautiful WHIP of 1.00, there are only 2 pitchers in the National League with ERA's less than 1 (Ubaldo Jimenez and Adam Wainwright). Lincoln is not a sure thing to have success in the majors this year, as he really only has one plus pitch (the curveball). His fastball is in the mid 90's, so he won't be blowing any batters away, but hopefully the threat of the curve and his knowledge of how to pitch and get batters out will give him a slip and propel him to some really good numbers.


So what should we expect for tonight? Well the Nationals don't have the best offense in the league, they are scoring 4.2 runs per game, which is respectable but still below average. After all the hype from last night, I wouldn't be surprised to see them a little flat tonight. Lincoln should be able to go out there and get into the 6th or 7th inning with pretty good success. He isn't gonna strike out 14, but I'd be surprised if he gave up more than 3 earned. As for Tabata, I don't see how his hot bat won't translate into the bigs. He isn't a power guy, he's a short swinging singles hitter with great speed, he shouldn't have any problems getting on base in the majors. I'll give him a 1/3 night with a walk, a steal, and a run scored.

For those of you ready to go out and order jerseys, Tabata wore #31 in AAA, and Lincoln wore #15.

Let's Go Bucs!