Minor League observations: Pedro Alvarez

By Jim

I apologize again for the long delays between posts, and in all honesty I meant to get this up last week. I spent a couple of nights last week at the Bowie Baysox, including an 11 K, 1 hit performance by Brian Matusz on Tuesday. But since I previously covered Matusz on this blog, I decided to talk about someone new this time.

On Friday night one of my league mates asked me to come with him to check out one of his prized prospects, the Pirates Pedro Alvarez. One of the most highly sought commodities in last year’s draft, Alvarez was taken second overall by Pittsburgh and has shown plenty of power in the minors. That power led to a promotion to Double A Altoona but since the promotion.Things haven’t come easy for Alvarez since that promotion though. While he continues to hit for power, Alvarez is struggling to keep his batting average above the Mendoza Line. Watching him in person against Bowie last Friday, it wasn’t hard to figure out why he is struggling to get the ball in play.

In his first at bat against Bowie’s Radhames Liz (who despite MLB experience has been known to struggle with his control), Alvarez hit the first pitch he saw right to the center fielder. There was no doubt the hit was staying in the park and there was no doubt the center fielder was going to catch the ball.

So with one pitch Alvarez was now 0-for-1 and his average dropped closer to that .200 mark.

The average would continue to suffer the rest of the night as Alvarez would strike out in each of his next 3 at bats before finally reaching base on a fielder’s choice in the 12th inning, finishing the night 0-for-5.

If Alvarez hopes to succeed at Double A or higher his plate patience needs a lot of work. While guys like Adam Dunn and Russell Branyan have made an impact by hitting a ton of home runs and striking out even more often, they also know how to lay off a bad pitch and draw a walk.

The other obvious flaw in Alvarez is his defense at 3B. He seemed to have limited range, especially to his left and I believe that if he is going to advance to the majors, he will need to be moved to either 1B or the corner outfield.

Alvarez still has all of the talent in the world but he also has a lot of learning left to do. In leagues where you can stash players on a farm or minor league roster, Alvarez is one of those guys you have to jump on if he falls to you. Just remember to have patience with him and wait until the last possible moment before you have to rely on him to lead you to fantasy glory.