Lets talk about Pedro Alvarez...

by loop on Jun 19, 2009 12:13 PM EDT Comment 12 comments

So Pedro Alvarez has been hyped up for years. He was the 2nd pick overall in the draft last year after a loud career at Vanderbilt, had the famous contract problem and eventually signed with the Pirates later than the last minute. He got a bunch of bad press, but came into spring training and seemed to turn it all around, hitting homers and impressing just about everyone in camp. Now in High A ball, Alvarez is off to a .245/.341/.494 with 14 homers and 55 runs batted in and a 69/36 strikeout to walk ratio which equates to striking out at 25% of the time rate. He seems to either suck completely or blow up with a 6 RBI game. Has anyone seen him in person this year, or does anyone have any deeper insight as to what the future may hold for Pedro? Is it going to be a Mousatakas type of thing where he blows up in the second half and goes on a tear or is there someone out there convinced he'll never do much in the batting average department? I'd like to hear what people think....

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I don’t know anything specfic but I do remember he came into camp overweight, out of shape, and with a lingering knee problem correct? He got off to a slow start definitely but I think he has been hitting much better lately. While his K rate is high (25%), his BB rate is pretty good at 13%-14%. The thing that stands out to me is his LD rate is really low (8%) according to FirstInning but I’ve always questioned their accuracy on that particular stat.

I don’t think he will be the kind of hitter that hits much over .280 but the power seems legit and the BB% makes me think he will have a decent ability to draw walks. I still think he is a .900+ OPS bat and if he sticks at 3B I think he will be pretty valuable.

by jfish26101 on Jun 19, 2009 1:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LD% for the minors is very unreliable

by superk1ng on Jun 19, 2009 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Pedro came to camp in fine shape. He was overweight in December but when he came to camp he wowed the Pittsburgh brass with his talents and efforts.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Jun 19, 2009 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Anybody heard anything...

…about his defense at third this year?

by jseiner on Jun 19, 2009 2:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gordon

Alvarez is all hype. He will be a poor man’s Alex Gordon.(Who as of now is a bust)

by Patriotreign3 on Jun 19, 2009 7:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol

baseball rules.

by doublestix on Jun 19, 2009 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are those two even close to comparable?

Seems like they’re very different players.

by thejd44 on Jun 19, 2009 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no, they're very comparable

both LH hitters, both strike out a good bit but both take walks, both tend to hit RHP better than LHP. play the same position obviously. good power up the middle.

calling Gordon a bust though is quite hilarious.

baseball rules.

by doublestix on Jun 19, 2009 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know

At the same age, Gordon was a level higher, struck out substantially less, and hit for more power. I think that both of them have plenty of potential, but I suspect Gordon is a better bet

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by OldProspects on Jun 22, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs