Mike Stanton, Carlos Santana, Jose Tabata: MLB's Recent Call-Ups

A few more minor league hot-shots have been called up the last few days.

Mike Stanton was finally called up by the Marlins and went 3-for-5 in his first game.  He was cooled off right quick last night by Roy Halladay, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

The Indians finally called up catcher Carlos Santana.  Word has it the Indians didn’t call him up sooner because they had some concerns about his defense.  Obviously, they think he’s ready now, or at least they are now convinced he can’t become a super-two for future arbitration eligibility purposes.

The Pirates called up 21 year old Venezuelan outfielder Jose Tabata.  Tabata, as you may recall, was the center piece of the trade that sent Xavier Nady to the Yankees in 2008.

I’m somewhat surprised that the Pirates would call up Tabata before 3B Pedro Alvarez.  Tabata was hitting a fine .309 at the AAA level, but his OPS was only .797, because he hasn’t developed any power yet.

So far, the Pirates have played Tabata in left field, a position at which you generally want to boast a power bat.  However, the Pirates may feel they need Tabata’s speed and athleticism—he stole 25 bases in 31 attempts in roughly two months of AAA ball this year.

Meanwhile, I’m not sure what the Pirates are waiting for with Alvarez.  He has pulled his batting average up to .291 and his OPS is a fine .931 currently.  Alvarez was not called up last September, so there is little chance that a call-up now would result in super-two status for Alvarez.

Alvarez is very much a player the Pirates will be building their team around for the next six seasons.  It’s time to get the Pedro Alvarez Era underway in Pittsburgh.