Why Do Pirates Bury Pedro Alvarez in Lineup ?

Jun 23, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez (24) is congratulated by center fielder Andrew McCutchen (22) and right fielder Travis Snider (23) at home plate after he hit a 3-run home run during the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Pedro Alvarez is a talented baseball player that the Pittsburgh Pirates have invested a great deal of time and money into becoming an elite talent.  So why does Alvarez get buried in the lineup consistently?  The slugger has regularly hit in the bottom half of the lineup, El Toro was even put in the eighth spot in the lineup this season.

Last night would have been a perfect opportunity to put El Toro in the two spot on the lineup card.  But instead Travis Snider got that spot.  Now why Snider gets the opportunity to hit in the honey hole is beyond me.  It absolutely baffled me.

Batting Pedro Alvarez behind Gregory Polanco and in front of Andrew McCutchen has the potential to change the game and more importantly give him something he hasn’t seen nearly enough of this season.

A fastball.

Nick Ashbourne did an excellent job of explaining how the Pirates opposition has approached pitching to the defending National League Home Run Champ.  It’s changed the game for Alvarez and more importantly the Pirates seem to be wasting his talents.  The fact the Pirates haven’t been able to strategically place their slugger in a position to help the club is troubling.  It seems obvious to most how to get a player going–just hit him in front of Andrew McCutchen.

Check out Ashbourne’s work here Pedro Alvarez Is Getting Nothing To Hit

"Baseball is a game of constant adjustments and it appears pitchers are adjusting to the Pirates slugger. For him to be successful he’ll just have to adjust back."

While that is true, it’s also rather simple to put Alvarez in a spot in the lineup where the likelihood of the biggest slugger on the team has an opportunity to see more of the pitch he mashes.

A fastball.

Pirates slugger Pedro Alvarez has 12 home runs in 2014.

____________________

One thing about El Toro is that you won’t hear him complain about the situation.  As Pedro Alvarez told Colin Dunlap yesterday in a great interview, “he doesn’t make out the lineup card.”

However, it makes me curious who really does, because what the Pirates are doing with Alvarez seems ridiculous.