Pittsburgh Pirates Pedro Alvarez Making It #PEDROSEASON

Pedro Alvarez, the mild mannered Pirates third baseman, saved the best of his monster 2013 season for the end.   The production for Alvarez in the NLDS is video-game-like.  In seven powerful at bats he has three hits, a double, two home runs, and has driven in three runs for an OBP of .500, a slugging percentage of 1.429, and an OPS 1.929–those are pretty strong numbers, considering he has faced the best St. Louis Cardinals pitchers.  Alvarez drove in another run against the Reds in the Wild Card Game.

Petey came into Pedroseason swinging a hot stick, with three home runs in his final ten games when he also hit over .300.

The result have been that his Pirates ballclub is winning exactly when they need to, and oh yeah – it’s been a bit of a buzz on social media, too.

Pedro Alvarez. Breakout King.

Hashtags are something that have followed the first round pick out of Vanderbilt since he arrived in Pittsburgh in June of 2010.  We have seen #DayDro, #ElToro, #VoteforPedro, #ElToroBomb, #MidAfternoonDro, #EarlyEveningDro, #BigBull!! and quite a few others so yeah, you get the point–Pedro’s been a popular guy.

Alvarez was the first smart pick of the Neal Huntington era.  A draft pick that is starting to erase those memories of Brad Lincoln over Tim Lincecum, Daniel Moskos over Matt Wieters and … let’s just stop there.  El Toro’s signing marked the end of a decade-long run of über-conservative, cost-first draft boards.  And what a blast it’s been since watching him crush #ElToroBombs like this one.

Pedro Alvarez second homer of the 2013 Season. The GIF

It’s plain to see that the investment in Alvarez is paying big dividends.  Alvarez is the often-overlooked producer of the Bucs.  He is the big splash provider for the Pirates offense.  Of course, El Toro still has some work to do on his game, but it’s really easy to see the improvement.  Especially after watching with delight as he electrified the Bucs in the crucial NLDS Game Two, staking the team to an early lead.

This season, Pedro has created almost as many homers as he has hashtags on his way to capturing a share of the NL Home Run Title.  He got off to a quick start, hitting bomb after bomb on the way to driving in 100 runs.  Alvarez talks softly, but his big stick helped him be named to the NL All-Star Team where he also participated in the Home Run Derby.

But now the real fun for Alvarez has begun.  It’s October.  The Pirates need a new hero, and Alvarez is off to a helluva start in making that happen.  Face it – October has just begun, but if this keeps up, Pedro Alvarez will force Major League Baseball to consider changing #POSTSEASON2013 to #PEDROSEASON.

Print the shirts.

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Remember Alvarez’s debut?  The Pirates had more errors than hits.  They’ve come a long way in three years.

The debut of Pedro Alvarez was ugly. The Bucs lost 7-2.

The boos were real. A small portion of fans walked out mid-inning on the Pirates. Some of the jeers included these hilljack originals:

"Hey Alvarez, grab your first basemans glove!"

"Yeah, Russell, you really look like you deserve one more year!"

The Pirates offense looked lifeless throughout most of the night.

We took a picture of the dugout in the ninth inning, right after the error fest. Nobody was getting their tail kicked by management. Does not seeing some ass chewing scare you away?

is about to hit his first homer in MLB. Photo:RumBunter.com

Why was Pedro the only one smiling?

In the ninth inning, the downtrodden faces of the Pirates tell the tale. Photo: RumBunter.com

I guess he knew what lay ahead.

Let’s Go Bucs