Matt

Kata

Although he didn’t show much after the All-Star break last season, Kata is the favorite to play second base for the Diamondbacks in 2004. Scott Hairston might get a chance to compete for the job at some point.

Brenley cites Kata’s ability to get on base, work deep counts and spray the ball around the field. Until Craig Counsell returns in about a week, Alex Cintron will play shortstop, with Kata at second base. Once Counsell is back, Brenly will re-assess who is playing well. Kata is hitting .310 with seven walks, six runs, four doubles and two home runs in 12 games.

He has a torn labrum and although he can try and rehab the injury, there is a 40-50% chance that he could dislocate the shoulder again without the surgery. Like teammate Richie Sexson, Kata has a difficult decision to make.

He’s expected to miss the rest of the season. “It’s something that makes sense,” Kata said. “You could decide to try and rehab it without surgery, but who knows if it will happen again? The good thing is it’s my non-throwing shoulder.”

Kata is out for the season.

There was too much blood leftover from the initial trauma to determine the extent of the damage to Kata’s shoulder. Kata will have another MRI taken in about 10 days.

He should be good to go tonight against the Giants.

Kata had been 1-for-4 since being acquired from the Diamondbacks on July 21. He’ll be back in September.

Kata isn’t nearly this good, but the Diamondbacks are going to have to keep playing him until he stops hitting .350. That could be bad news for Junior Spivey, who is day to return right after the break.

Another year, another minor league contract for Kata. He enjoyed his best season in the minors in 2011, hitting 293/.353/.480 for Triple-A Round Rock. With 50 major league at-bats in the last four years, the 33-year-old embodies the term “organizational depth.”