Pirates Pedro Alvarez Injured, Now What?

Aug 25, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez (24) reacts after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Pedro Alvarez has found his boom stick.  The Pirates slugger unfortunately left the Bucs clubhouse tonight in a walking boot.  The injury was first reported by the Pirates on Twitter.

But after the game, Dan Zangrilli, who hosts the Pirates pre and post game shows for 93.7 The Fan, tweeted this news about Pedro Alvarez 

Alvarez had just begun to play first base and actually has looked quite comfortable at the position, avoiding any errors, let alone anything that has made him stand out at the position.  Well, other than his bat. On the season El Toro is hitting .248 against right handers with sixteen homers.  But when southpaws take the mound, he is hitting just .175 with two bombs.

But the offense was seeming to turn as the Bucs first round pick started each of the last three games at first base. In those games, Alvarez was hitting .400 with four hits, three crucial home runs that got the Pedro Alvarez Home Run Tracker rolling and five runs driven in for the Bucs.

Pedro Alvarez Home Run Tracker

In a bit larger of a sample size, Alvarez was hitting .296 (8-for-27) with a double and three home runs and had driven in seven runs in his last nine games heading into tonights start against the Cardinals and Lance Lynn. Anytime a player leaves the clubhouse in a walking boot, it isn’t good.

But the real thing that stands out is that, Alvarez is never hurt.  El Toro has played through all kinds of injuries, but this time it seems serious. Its hard to imagine Alvarez allowing anyone to put anything on his body, unless it was otherwise.

Just when the Pirates had seemingly found their long, lost slugger, someone pulls out a walking boot.

And last night,  just when all seemed lost against the Cardinals….with Alvarez in the training room, up stepped Ike Davis.Yeah.  We know.  We saw the jokes. But guess what?  The unthinkable happened.

Davis hit the game winner–in true Pirates fashion lately–via the long ball.

Well, more specifically, via the really, really long bomb, the longest of the season at PNC Park an estimated 442 feet.

Why Mike Matheny allowed his right hander to pitch to Davis, who is hitting .100, yeah, .100, against lefties is beyond anyone in the Northern hemisphere.

Looking forward, the Pirates first base options without Alvarez are very familiar.  Davis has 16 hits in 63 at-bats since the All-Star break after hitting .234 in 86 games prior to the break.    Davis has hit six of his nine homers at PNC, including three pinch-hit bombs this season.

But let’s face it.  Davis and Gaby Sanchez  haven’t gotten it done consistently this season.  The Pirates needed a patened Alvarez hot stretch as the chased their postseason dreams.  Looking at the offense with the thought of Andrew McCutchen and now, Pedro Alvarez out of the lineup for any time, let alone an extended period, is going to be very, very hard to overcome.

Godspeed Pedro Alvarez.