Andres Alvarez

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2019
R:  235/336/326, 132 AB, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 15 BB, 29 K, 3-5 SB
A:  143/250/143, 14 AB, 2 BB, 4 K

Alvarez played regularly in the GCL, splitting his time between third and short, and playing a few games at second.  He struggled to hit against the much younger pitchers he was facing.  He also had problems with errors at short.  After the GCL season ended the Pirates moved him up to Greensboro to fill an injury-related opening.

2020
DNP

2021
A+:  288/367/482, 139 AB, 9 2B, 6 HR, 17 BB, 38 K, 10-12 SB

The Pirates kept Alvarez in extended spring training until the beginning of July, then sent him to Greensboro when they moved Francisco Acuna down to Bradenton.  Alvarez started off with a .622 OPS in July, very much in line with his weak 2019 season.  In August, though, he exploded for a 385/479/564 line.  Then in September he hit five home runs and posted an .858 OPS.  A lot of the hitting was attributable to the Greensboro ballpark; he had five homers and a 1.137 OPS at home, two and .693 on the road.  He split his time evenly between second, third and short, and pitched three times.

2022
AA:  220/339/429, 368 AB, 13 2B, 2 3B, 20 HR, 64 BB, 123 K, 21-22 SB

Alvarez kept up the power breakout with a big early season in Altoona.  He also had an excellent year as a base stealer, becoming the first 20/20 player in Curve history.  His hitting did drop off steadily during the season, as shown by his month-by-month OPS:

April:  1.025
May:  .989
June:  .759
July:  .743
August:  .647
September:  .567

Alvarez’ K rate was 22% in the first half of the season, 30% in the second half, so it’s possible he got homer-happy and was over-swinging.  On defense, Alvarez played third, second, left and short, in that order of frequency.  He did not commit many errors.

Given his steady decline over the 2022 season, it’s still open to question whether Alvarez can hit at higher levels.  He’ll go back to AA to start the 2023 season, but hopefully will get a chance at Indianapolis at some point.