Pedro Alvarez....When to Throw in the Towel

 

  So the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't giving up on Pedro Alvarez....Yet. Despite Alvarez batting an sad .133 in spring training and striking out 13 out of his 30 at bats, Alvarez will be the starting third basemen on opening day. Hold your applause and excitement. 

Starting Alvarez is risky. Alvarez seems to have the mental confidence of a guy who just saw the only girl he's ever been able to bang cheat on him on their honeymoon. The worse Alvarez plays the worse he plays after that. There's never any rebound with him and frankly it's quite sad.

Alvarez struggles in so many areas. He can't hit the ball to the opposite field, he couldn't hit a curveball if he had a tennis racket, and his training regimen seems to be similar to the Pittsburgh Steeler's own Casey Hampton.


"Last season, Alvarez hit .191 with four homers and was limited to 74 games due to a quadriceps injury. Alvarez was drafted second overall in 2008 and received a four-year, $6.355 million contract with a $6 million signing bonus. He made his big league debut in 2010 and hit .256 with 16 home runs in 74 games.

Pirate's General Manager Neil Huntington indicated Alvarez would benefit more from remaining in the majors as an everyday player than by going back to Triple-A. (as per ESPN.com)"

But at what point do the Pirates send Alvarez to AAA and what is that going to do to him mentally? At what point can we just call Alvarez a bust and move on? These are the kind of questions and decisions that the Pirates are going to be careful about if they really want to turn the corner as an organization.

What is going to happen when Alvarez goes 0-4 on opening day with three strike-outs? I'll tell you what's going to happen, boos by the fans, a lot of boos. You'll be able to hear the boos from PNC Park on Smithfield street.

I for one am rooting for Alvarez, mostly because a lot of people have already decided to hate him. I do think he should have played Fall and Winter ball and needs to make a bigger commitment to the game. Pedro has all of the tools and it would be a shame for him to be this big of a failure with the Pirates.