Jose Tabata Demoted, Gorkys Hernandez Called-Up

The struggles of outfielder Jose Tabata became too much for the Pittsburgh Pirates to deal with as they optioned the 23-year old outfielder to Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday and recalled outfielder Gorkys Hernandez (via Pittsburgh Pirates on Twitter).

Tabata was batting .230 with three homers and 11 RBI in 72 games. Manager Clint Hurdle twice threatened Tabata with a demotion this year, citing the outfielder’s lapses in hustle.

Hernandez is in his second stint with the Pirates. He went 2-for-10 with two RBI in nine games from May 18 until June 5.

Hernandez was promoted instead of top prospect Starling Marte, who all indications point to being promoted fairly soon, possibly after the All-Star break.

The Bucs appear nearly ready to promote the Class AAA outfielder and highly-rated prospect, Dejan Kovacevic writes.

"Just spoke with high-ranking #Pirates official, and I can tell you this: It will NOT be long before Starling Marte is in Pittsburgh. “It’s time,” the official said without specifics. In the same convo, it came about that Jose Tabata had better get his act together immediately or he’s headed for the minors. The team is — and should be — livid with his lackluster effort. Sounds to me like an easy one-for-one switch."

Less than one year ago, the Bucs gave a six-year extension to Tabata with several option years tacked onto the end. The idea was that if Tabata became a useful regular, then he would be locked up at a below market value deal.

Fast forward to today and Tabata is proving not to be useful at all.

For the mean time, expect Hernandez and Drew Sutton to get a majority of Tabata’s at bats.