21-year old righty swinging outfielder Jose Tabata is looking good so far for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tabata has played in 68 games for the Pirates this year and he is 84 of 268 (.313 avg, .780 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 3 homers, 19 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Tabata came over from the Yankees along with Daniel McCutchen, Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. That trade is looking really good for the Pirates right about now.

The Pirates have placed C/1B Jeff Clement on the 15-day disabled list with left knee irritation. He has played in 54 games for the Pirates this year and he is 29 of 144 (.201 avg, .605 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 7 homers and 12 RBIs. The Pirates have called up 26-year old lefty reliever Justin Thomas to replace Clement on the active roster. Thomas pitched in 7 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Pirates and he is 0-0 with a 6.23 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. The Pirates hope Thomas will be better this time around.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf has been the Pirates’ best starting pitcher so far this season. He has started 20 games for the Pirates and he is 1-10 with a 3.90 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. His record is awful for as well as he has pitched for the Pirates this year. Ohlendorf has now pitched in 54 games (all starts) in his three years with the Pirates and he is 12-23 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Hopefully the Pirates start scoring some runs for Ohlendorf because he deserves to win some games.

UPDATE: (8/24/2010) - Ross Ohlendorf will likely miss the rest of the 2010 season due to a damaged muscle in the back of his right shoulder. His season likely ends with 21 starts in which he was 1-11 with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.

25-year old righty starting pitcher James McDonald came over from the Dodgers in the Octavio Dotel trade and he’s looking good. McDonald has started 3 games for the Pirates this year and he is 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He has whiffed 20 batters while only walking 4 in 17 2/3 innings for the Pirates. McDonald’s not only aggressive in the strike zone but he’s missing a lot of bats as he has only given up 14 hits so far. McDonald was once one of the brighest prospects the Dodgers had so a clean slate and a chance to start might be all he needs to excel in the majors. 29-year old righty swinging catcher Chris Snyder has not been off to a stellar start like McDonald has. He has played in 12 games for the Pirates since coming over from the D-Backs and he is 8 of 41 (.195 avg, .545 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He has been whiffing a lot (14 times) for the Pirates but they still plan on using him as the starting catcher over Ryan Doumit.

23-year old lefty swinging 3B Pedro Alvarez looked overmatched in his first month in the majors. In June, he was 7 of 46 (.152 avg, .411 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 5 RBIs and an amazing 22 whiffs. But in July and August, Alvarez has been on fire with the bat. He is 42 of 150 (.280 avg) with 19 runs scored, 10 homers, 30 RBIs and 50 whiffs. Until the whiffs come down his batting average will likely peak at .270-.280 but the Pirates would be more than happy with that because of his big time power.