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Pirates Not Looking For a Change With Pedro Alvarez

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After the tough error that opened the flood gates for the Brewers to tack on two more runs last night, the questions were inevitable for Clint Hurdle about Pedro Alvarez’s defense in Saturday’s media session. The error was Alvarez’s 15th of the season at the new position.

With the occasional deficiencies, Hurdle does not see a change in the process coming anytime soon. This also includes the plan in the late innings with defensive replacements at the position with a lead.

“I see improvement in some areas and I see continuous challenges in some areas,” Hurdle said. “I think that we will evaluate as we did last year. I don’t know what is going to happen two weeks down the road. Could it be different? It could be or it could be the same. We have to take it one day at a time.”

While Hurdle did say that they would do anything to make the club better overall, he said that change is not something that he is jumping into. He also pointed to the fact that there is not an identifiable second option.

Hurdle also compared the situation with Alvarez to the situation with Josh Bell in Altoona, who has also transitioned to first base.

Hurdle said that it “takes courage to have patience” in today’s society. He said that has purged right into sports, but they are giving time and growth.

Caminero Working on Adjustments

While the first base situation is not having changes just yet, Hurdle said that Arquimedes Caminero is working with Ray Searage on some slight alterations.

“It does go back to and has something to do with angle and something to do with familiarity of them seeing him,” Hurdle said. “He is working on trying to get a little more angle and deception into his delivery.”

However, Hurdle also said that they did not want to get more into and there will be more to come.

Kang Adjusting to an Everyday Role

With the injury to Josh Harrison, Jung Ho Kang is seeing some change as well, as he is seeing an increase of playing time to an everyday player.

With this spike, the results have followed. Kang has hit safely in four straight contests and eight of his last nine games. Over that stretch, Kang is batting .333.

However, Hurdle did say that even with the success, they are still being cautious with Kang as it pertains to the grind of a Major League Baseball season.

“There is always a benefit to getting reps for a complete player and a player who has shown that he is not a platoon type option,” Hurdle said. “The one thing that we will have to continue to monitor is volume of play…We put the whip to him late in the first half to finish off the way that he did.”

Ryan Palencer
Ryan Palencer
Ryan has been following Indianapolis baseball for most of his life, and the Pirates since they became the affiliate in 2005. He began writing for Pirates Prospects in 2013, in a stint that ran through 2016 (with no service time manipulation played in). Ryan rejoined the team in 2022, covering Indianapolis once again. He has covered the Pirates in four different big league stadiums. Ryan was also fortunate enough to cover the 2015 Futures Game in Cincinnati.

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