Pedro Alvarez: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Young Star Has Arrived
By Matt Shetler
Those who have read me for years probably got sick of me saying to be patient on Pedro Alvarez.
The kid just has too much talent and raw power. So while everyone was jumping off the bandwagon and knocking Alvarez when he was hitting .190, it’s almost shameful that those are the same people applauding Alvarez today.
You can hear crickets right now among Pedro’s critics. That’s because he’s arriving as a major league ball player.
People have been too quick to bash Pedro, not realizing he was rushed to the big leagues. When you look at it, this is Alvarez’s first full year in the majors and really should have been all along.
He’s hitting only .224, but he’s never going to be a guy that hits over .240. You will just have to live with that. Alvarez has also struck out 94 times (fifth in N.L.). You will have to live with that as well.
But Alvarez has turned himself into a legitimate run producer with his 18 homers and 54 RBI in 80 games played. He’s on pace for over 30 homers and 90 RBI and if I would have told you that before the season, every single Pirates fan would love those numbers.
Look at the month of June alone, when Alvarez hit .262 with seven homers and 20 RBI. He also only struck out 26 times for the month.
While Pedro will be streaky and have more than his share of ups and downs throughout his career, you will see more consistent months like that from Alvarez. That’s because Pedro has arrived as a big league hitter.
It has nothing to do with the late inning bomb he hit Monday night in Colorado, but the overall comfort level Alvarez is showing at the plate. Especially against left-handed pitchers.
Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle always commented on how much work Pedro put in and now the hard work is paying off.
In addition to becoming a very good defensive third baseman, Alvarez is making himself into a legitimate threat at the plate.
He’s second among all MLB third baseman in homers (Miguel Cabrera, 20) and fourth in RBI. That’s impressive enough considering the slow start that not only Alvarez got off to, but the entire Pirates offense.
However Alvarez just has the look of a much confident hitter who has a better understanding of the strike zone and how pitchers are trying to attack him.
Over his past 30 days he’s hitting .300 with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. For perspective, in that span Andrew McCutchen has 10 home runs and 27 RBIs (and he’s hitting .485 in that span).
It all starts with the plate discipline. Alvarez drew three walks in April. That’s beyond awful. In each of the past two full months, he’s been in double digits, and when a hitter shows patience, pitchers treat him differently. The power was never much in question for Alvarez, he just needed to refine his approach.
That brings me back to the southpaws.
Last year it looked like Alvarez would never get another hit off of a lefty. Now he’s not a liability at all. He’s only hitting .205 on the year against left-handed pitchers, but that’s a huge jump from the .158 he hit against them before this year.
The way Alvarez has driven the ball the other way with authority against lefty’s shows how far he has come as a hitter in the short time he’s been in a Pirates uniform.
Remember that Pedro has only 249 career games under his belt. That amounts to only a year and a half of major league time. In that period of time, Pedro has become far more then just a mistake hitter.
Alvarez will continue to struggle sometimes, but remember that fact that he’s still young.
However he can no longer be a target of criticism among Pirates fans because it is a fact that Pedro has arrived for good.