The Sporting News
http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb
May 3, 2012
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 29: Pedro Alvarez #24 of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on April 289 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS—Pedro Alvarez gave the Pirates more reason to hope Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
He hit a go-ahead homer, his seventh, and extended his hitting streak to six games with a 2-for-4 performance that lifted his average to .257 in a 6-3 victory over the Cardinals. While not quite Matt Kemp-like, the Pirates will take it.
You would, too, after what Alvarez endured last season and the start of this one. Most of baseball was this close to stamping the former No. 2 pick a bust after Alvarez followed his awful 2011 (.191) with an appalling spring training (.170) and abhorrent start (2-for-30).
Ten productive days after such an abysmal year don't mean much but the Pirates are finding encouragement beyond Alvarez's numbers. They see great signs in Alvarez's swing these days.
"His head is quiet," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's got good balance. His front foot is down, he's hitting from a power position stroking the ball the other way."
But enough with the technical stuff. The real reason Hurdle is happy with Alvarez's swing is that the Pirates are seeing more of it. Alvarez didn't bother to take the bat off his shoulder last year more times than Hurdle cares to remember.
"There was just a high percentage of called strikes for the longest period of time, from last season and early on this season," Hurdle said. "Last season, in 33 percent of his at-bats (actually 28 percent), he hit from an 0-2 count. That's not a formula for success for anybody."
Understandably shaken from his first failures, Alvarez is not about to get carried away with a 16-for-40 stretch or that, in 70 at-bats, he already has three more homers than he had in 235 at-bats last year. Ask him if his hitting is in a good place, and he shrugs.
"I feel better," he said.
So that's not quite good?
"I feel better," he repeated.
His hitting coach, Gregg Ritchie, has been working with Alvarez on a changed approach. Known as a pull hitter, Ritchie wants the lefty swinger to think of the right-field foul pole being in right-center field rather than down the right-field line, which allows Alvarez to stay back longer on the pitch. When asked how this has helped, Alvarez casts a wary look.
"I have just been going up there trying to compete," he said. "That's been the biggest thing. Just trying to keep things simple, see the ball and hit the ball."
"Bull Durham" clichés aside, are you seeing the ball better?
"Just write what I said," he said. "That would be good."
Alvarez, 25, says this not to be difficult. He does not want to overthink his successes like he did his failures last year. "I'm sure that was part of it," said Alvarez, who won't use last year's early quad injury as an excuse, either.
Does he believe he has turned a corner this year? "I'm focusing on competing every time I step in the box," he said.
Hurdle isn't ready to be proclaiming Alvarez as worthy of his $6 million bonus, either, calling the recent run "very encouraging and another positive step forward."
Alvarez took a huge step in the right direction in the sixth inning when he knocked a full-count slider from Jake Westbrook 408 feet over the fence in left-center. The two-run blast was the first homer allowed this season by the righthander and helped the Pirates salvage a victory in the three-game series.
"He crushed that ball," Hurdle said after the game. "He's finding a way to drop some other hits along the way that are helping because he is swinging the bat. You don't get hits when you don't swing the bat."
Alvarez isn't the only Pirate swinging the bat better these days. Though they still rank last in the majors in runs, the Pirates have had their three highest-scoring games since Sunday, with outputs of 9, 7 and 6 runs.
Their pitching has been there much of the season, including Thursday when Erik Bedard became the first Buc to strike out seven in a row and the staff finished with 17 Ks.
And now they head home, where the weather soon should be turning warm and where they will spend most of May. Starting with Friday night's game against the Reds, 18 of the Pirates' next 25 games will come at PNC Park.
"It's still somewhat early," said Andrew McCutchen, who left Thursday's game because of the stomach flu. "Bats are starting to open up a little bit, and we're starting to score some runs."
Thanks mainly to Alvarez, who is hitting .400 over his past 11 games after hitting .067 in the first 10. Besides taking the team lead in homers, he also leads in RBIs. As modest as it might be, his hitting streak already is two games longer than any he put together in 2011.
Just forgive him for not being overly excited. It takes a lot to overcome the disappointment of a year like that. But based on how he's swinging these days—namely, that he is swinging—it's safe to say his worst is behind him.
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