Pittsburgh Pirates Pedro Alvarez Is The Missing Link

The Pittsburgh Pirates are powerless at the moment.  Punchless.

With no threat in the lineup near Andrew McCutchen, opposing pitchers are pitching around the Pirates superstar.  The team has hit 53 home runs in 2011 which is good for 12th in the NL; 24th overall in MLB.  The other night against the Blue Jays, Jose Bautista had more bombs than the entire Pirates lineup.

McCutchen had five homers in April, four in May, and just two in June.  Neil Walker has eight homeruns in 2011, but just two in June.  Garrett Jones has eight as well with five coming in April and just two last month.  It’s a no brainer to realize that the Pirates lineup needs some pop.

Neal Huntington was asked about adding a bat on his show last week.  He mentioned that the asking price was high and also said, it takes two to tango.  One of the most interesting quotes however was, other teams have to like your prospects.  Perhaps that is the key reason an impact move hasn’t been made.  But hold on.  Help might be on the way, because look what happened last night.  The largest source of power for the ailing Bucs lineup might be a little bit closer to returning than we thought.

Pedro Alvarez hit a two-out two run homer for the Bradenton Marauders. Alvarez is working his way through a rehab assignment and now has two hits in ten at-bats to go along with three walks and three strikeouts. We have to believe Alvarez is dying inside watching his teammates struggle to score runs.

Alvarez is without question what the Pirates need so desperately and he can’t get back in black and gold fast enough.

By the way check out these Marauders All American unis they are rocking this weekend.    The King and His Court would be proud.

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