This 4th of July weekend finally saw Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Pedro Alvarez not only hit his first career homerun, but we saw his second as well.
The Pirates took 3-4 from the Phillies, which is hilarious because the Phillies are in such a landslide right now that it has the Philadelphia media clamoring to behead someone out there on the other side of the state. Anyways, back to the excitement and long awaited homerun. It took 55 at bats for Alvarez to learn how to hit the major league curve ball. Once he had that down, it’s all a matter of getting comfortable and getting much needed confidence.
The best thing about the situation? Both homeruns he hit this weekend sparked the team in a huge way, and even had a few men on to make the situation even that much more dramatic, and to think, all it took was manager John Russel to move him around in the order. For some God awful reason, Russel decided to bat him late in the order effectively making no pitcher afraid of what Alvarez could do. Once he moved him to the top of the order? Everything changed, Alvarez was seeing pitches, specifically fastballs, and he was getting his timing down.
It’s great news, and I’m happy to report that this life long Pirates fan has some kind of hope for the future of Alvarez, even if it may be a short one with the Pirates.
Tue, Jul 6, 2010
Sports