Pittsburgh Pirates close to moving Pedro Alvarez to first base
By Cory Buck
The Pittsburgh Pirates remain mired in a heated NL Central division race despite a plethora of injuries at the top of their roster that include their best pitcher and their best fielder. To go along with that bad luck has been the disastrous 2014 season put forth by third basemen Pedro Alvarez.
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Alvarez has been benched for much of the second half of this season, but it appears he’s ready to make his return to the lineup from a different position.
Instead of making throws to first base, Alvarez will be scooping them from that spot soon enough.
“He’s working his backside off to find a level of comfort and say, ‘OK. I’m ready to go over there in a major league game,’ ” Pirates manager Hurdle said per Pittsburgh Trib-Live. “I think we’re real close to that. There will be a day here soon when you’ll see him over there.”
Alvarez has been a sore disappointment after posting back-to-back 30 HR seasons in the previous two season. He does have 15 home runs this year, but he only had two HRs and five RBIs in the month of July while his defensive play from third base grew increasingly erratic.
Alvarez has racked up 24 errors in 96 games played in 2014, mostly due to poor throws from third base. Now the team hopes to bring Pedro’s bat back to life while also reviving his defensive game just in time for the home stretch to this MLB season.