by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/16/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez stole the third base of his career Thursday night against the Brewers as part of a 0-for-2 day that also featured one walk and one run scored.
Alvarez entered play Thursday with just two steals in 354 games and 1,370 career plate appearances. He recorded one stolen base in each of the last two years. Alvarez has hit just .188/.237/.336 with six home runs in 139 plate appearances this season.
Pedro Alvarez sits against righty
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (5/15/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez was out of the lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Brewers with a right-hander on the mound.
Manager Clint Hurdle told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the 26-year-old sat due to the matchup. Alvarez has gone 0 for 15 in his career against Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo.
"I've watched him go against (Gallardo) for two straight years, and this is the third year," Hurdle said. "We'll try something different."
It was his first time sitting against a righty since June 5, 2012.
Pedro Alvarez breaks skid with home run
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (5/9/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez broke an 0-for-14 slide in his previous four games with a 2-for-3 game Thursday against the Mets that included a home run, his sixth of the season. His batting average, which had dipped to .168, is now .182.
Pedro Alvarez getting less selective
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (5/7/2013) Coming into this season, Pedro Alvarez had rightfully earned the reputation for being an all-or-nothing hitter. So far this year, he has done nothing to dispel that image and everything to reinforce it.
Alvarez has five home runs, but he has been striking out more often and walking less. He's also batting just .178, and he has yet to get a base hit on a flyball that stayed in the park. Some of that may be bad luck, but it hasn't helped that he has already produced eight infield flies. Those strikeouts and popups are products of an increasingly undisciplined approach, as Alvarez is swinging at pitches more often, particularly at those outside the strike zone.
Owners could live with Alvarez hitting .250, as long as he produces power, and in past seasons -- both in the majors and the minors -- he has shown the potential to do just that. Until he shows progress, though, find a place on your bench for the Pirates' slugger.
Don't be fooled by Pedro Alvarez's hot streak
by Nando Di Fino | Senior Fantasy Writer (4/30/2013) If you ran out and picked up Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez after his six-game run last week, in which he hit .368 with four home runs -- well, the joke's on you. Alvarez is one of the more unpredictable players in MLB, and picking him up after he does something like this is just going to cause headaches.
Alvarez hit 30 home runs last year, with eight of those coming in multi-homer games (two of those games coming on back-to-back days), two homers coming in a doubleheader, and four homers coming in a one-week span in July. Alvarez doesn't hit homers in streaks -- he hits them in bunches. By the time you notice he's hit three or four and pick him up, he puts that big bat down and gets back to unspooling all the good Fantasy karma he just accrued.
Alvarez is a decent option for Roto leagues -- over the course of a year he will get the home runs. But trying to work him into a lineup in weekly Head-to-Head formats is maddening, and should be avoided at all costs. If you're starting him, and your team is, say, 3-1, consider yourself a very lucky man.
Still the same old Pedro Alvarez
by Chris Cwik | CBSSports.com (4/29/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez has heated up the past couple of days, but that's to be expected given his approach.
Alvarez still has a decent walk rate and an astronomical strikeout rate. His 32.2 percent strikeout rate ranks as the seventh highest in the league. While his average has been limited by a .245 BABIP, he's not a candidate to hit over .245 due to the abundance of strikeouts. His approach makes him a candidate to go on runs like this, but he's not a candidate to improve on last season's performance.
Suddenly hot Pedro Alvarez still a risk
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com (4/26/2013) There aren't many hitters in the majors who approach Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez's streakiness.
When Alvarez is on, as he has been over the last seven games with four home runs, he can look like one of the best power hitters in the game. Even when hot, though, you can see signs of what makes Alvarez so hard to depend on, as he is hitting the ball well right now, but still has eight strikeouts in his last 24 at bats.
Fantasy owners feel pressure to get Alvarez in the lineup when he is feeling it, but it is not yet clear the Pirates feel the same way. Alvarez has been out of the starting lineup the last three times the Pirates have faced a left-handed starter. With three lefties on the way in Week 5 (April 29-May 5), even a scorching hot Alvarez may not give you the production you are looking for. Our Scott White thinks Alvarez is a risky start for Week 5 due to his matchups.
Pedro Alvarez putting power on display
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/24/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit his fourth home run in the last six games on Wednesday night against the Phillies. He took Antonio Bastardo deep for a solo shot in the seventh inning.
The 26-year-old also had an RBI single and finished 2 for 4 in a 5-3 win.
Alvarez has really picked up the pace of late. He is batting .348 (8 for 23) with seven RBI in his last seven contests.
Here comes Pedro Alvarez
by Scott White | Senior Fantasy Writer (4/23/2013) To recap, the Pirates' Pedro Alvarez hit .042 with a home run over his first eight games last year. Then, he hit .367 with six home runs over his next 14 games. Then, he hit .143 with a home run over his next 33 games (brr, that's cold). Then, he hit .308 with 13 home runs over his next 30 games (ow, that's hot).
Then, he hit .217 with no home runs over his next 20. Then, he hit .407 with six home runs over his next 15. Then, he hit .212 with three home runs over his final 29.
And that, folks, is how he arrived at a .244 batting average and 30 home runs for the season.
After his 4-for-45 start this year, you probably benched him, but seeing as he has three home runs in his last five games, you should probably activate him before the next cold spell arrives.
Pedro Alvarez finding his power stroke
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/22/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez continued his recent power surge on Monday night against the Phillies. He went 2 for 4 with a home run in a 3-2 loss.
The 26-year-old took starter Jonathan Pettibone deep for a solo shot in his first at-bat before reaching on an infield single in the seventh inning.
Alvarez has gone 5 for 15 (.333) in his last five games with three homers and four RBI.
Southpaw sends Pedro Alvarez to bench
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (4/20/2013) A day after launching a home run for the second straight game, Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez was held out of the starting lineup Saturday against Braves left-hander Paul Maholm. Alvarez is boasting a three-game hitting streak but strikeouts continue to limit the young slugger as he's whiffed 20 times in 52 at-bats this season.
Alvarez has also struggled against lefties, collecting just one hit in 16 at-bats with nine strikeouts. Russell Martin took his spot at third base.
Pedro Alvarez blasts first home run
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (4/18/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit his first home run of the season Thursday, a no-doubter to straightaway center field off Braves starter Julio Teheran. It was the only hit of the game for Alvarez, who also drew a walk to lift his season line to .104/.204/.167 in 54 plate appearances.
Pedro Alvarez a test in patience
by Scott White | Senior Fantasy Writer (4/16/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez is one of the most dropped players in Fantasy (with some people, based on the e-mails I've been getting, opting for Trevor Plouffe and Chris Johnson), and from what I can tell, it's only because he's 3 for 41 to begin the season.
Well, what did you expect? He began last season 1 for 24. He hit .143 over an early 33-game stretch and .214 over a later 33-game stretch. Yeah, he finished with 30 home runs, and he likely will again, but in between, he'll endure some crippling cold streaks. And until he stops striking out every third at-bat, that doesn't figure to change.
But again, none of this should come as a shock to you. You knew exactly what you were getting when you drafted Alaverez. By dropping him now, you only realize your losses, absorbing all of the bad without sticking around for the good.
In Head-to-Head leagues, I can understand you not wanting to live and die by him every week. I question why you drafted him in the first place, but whatever. Lesson learned. But in Rotisserie leagues, you kind of have to let the season run its course. Rest assured, the home runs are coming.
Bad idea to drop Pedro Alvarez
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/14/2013) There's one thing quite evident about Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez's poor start -- he's not making much contact. Alvarez has struck out 15 times in 11 games and Fantasy owners are fed up, dumping Alvarez onto waivers.
While it's frustrating to watch Alvarez mired in another cold streak, I don't think Fantasy owners should be dropping the 26-year-old infielder. You are going to have to deal with a high strikeout rate from Alvarez, but you are dropping him when he has a .086 batting average. How much worse can it really get? You have already lived through the horror. You are going to miss reaping all the rewards.
I'm confident a positive market correction is due because Alvarez has a 22.5 swinging strike percentage, which is well above his career average (13.6 percent), according to FanGraphs.com. His plate discipline numbers are all out of whack and Alvarez should eventually come back to his career norms, so there's plenty of room to improve here.
If anything, take Alvarez out of active lineups, but I can't condone dropping a potential 30-homer bat just yet.
Pedro Alvarez racking up the Ks
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/14/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez had another quiet night at the plate Saturday against the Reds. He went 0 for 2 with a strikeout and a walk in the 3-1 win.
Alvarez is batting .086 with 15 strikeouts in 35 at-bats.
Pedro Alvarez collecting more air
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (4/9/2013) Strikeouts have stunted the progress of Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez during his brief major-league career and they continue to be a problem this season. Alvarez, who finished second in the National League with 180 strikeouts last year, has been punched out at least once in every game (12 total).
He is in the midst of an 0-for-17 slump and has struck out in eight of his past 10 at-bats and is hitting .080.
Pedro Alvarez with another 1-for-4 performance
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez collected a hit for the second straight contest on Wednesday night against the Cubs. He singled in the eighth inning and finished 1 for 4 in the 3-0 win.
Alvarez has gone 2 for 8 (.250) with an RBI thus far.
Pedro Alvarez still has to win me over
by Scott White | Senior Fantasy Writer (3/27/2013)Pedro Alvarez has had an encouraging enough turnaround over the past few days, including a 4-for-5 performance Wednesday, that he's probably worthy of a little more reflection at this stage of the game. I've been targeting as sort of my "Ryan Howard fallback" -- a corner infielder who I can trust to deliver 30-plus homers, but not much else. Still, at age 26, he might have some untapped potential.
The Pirates couldn't stop singing his praises when he showed up for the start of spring training, with manager Clint Hurdle telling MLB.com he "continues to have a better understanding of things he needs to do in the offseason to get himself in a good place for spring training, where he isn't trying to play catch up."
That's a decidedly different tone from last year, when Alvarez's conditioning was called into question.
Of course, a player who strikes out as often as Alvarez does is predisposed to a .250ish batting average no matter what shape he's in, I think, so for me, a Ryan Howard fallback is what he'll remain.
Pedro Alvarez sends batting average soaring
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (3/27/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez nearly lifted his batting average 60 points during Wednesday's spring game against the Twins. Alvarez provided most of his team's offense during a 7-4 loss, going 4 for 5 with one run and three RBI. He hit his second home run of the spring -- a solo shot off Vance Worley in the third inning. Alvarez came into the game batting .191 and left it hitting .250 (13 for 52) through 18 games. He also has five doubles and 10 RBI.
Pedro Alvarez expected to fill four-hole
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (3/19/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez will likely start the season in the four-hole, MLB.com reports. Alvarez is batting .161 with three RBI in 31 at-bats this spring. Manager Clint Hurdle expects him to pick it up once the season starts.
"We'll be best served when he puts his foot down and takes ownership of that spot," Hurdle said. "You'd like to find a guy you can put in there and leave alone, and Pedro is definitely one we're considering."
Alvarez played just 19 games last season, hitting .170 with two homers and three RBI.
Alvarez not seeing the ball
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/11/2013) Pittsburgh third baseman Pedro Alvarez is really struggling this spring swinging the bat. He went 0 for 2 on Monday and has gone just 2 for 22 this spring overall for the Pirates. He has one double -- his only extra-base hit -- and two RBI with four strikeouts to this point.
Alvarez 'in a very good place'
(2/19/2013) Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez declined to play winter ball last offseason but still showed up to camp in good shape. It appears he worked even harder this year, however, as MLB.com reports the 26-year-old has showed up in great shape after training at IMG Academy once again. "Pedro continues to have a better understanding of things he needs to do in the offseason to get himself in a good place for spring training, where he isn't trying to play catch up," manager Clint Hurdle said Tuesday. "He worked extremely hard at IMG for an extended period of time, and was able to come into this camp in a very good place."
