Pittsburgh Pirates: Under the Radar Prospects Pushing For a Promotion

Utility man Andres Alvarez

When Nick Gonzales went down with an injury, the Curve turned to Andres Alvarez, who has surprisingly been a force to be reckoned with this year. Up until this year, Alvarez was nothing more than organizational depth, but he has to be getting some attention now that he’s slugged Double-A pitching.

Through 165 plate appearances, Alvarez is posting a robust .249/.370/.556 batting line. Alvarez has hit for a ton of power. He currently has ten long balls and a .308 isolated slugging percentage. He has also drawn his fair share of walks. Alvarez has a 15.8% BB% and has slimmed down his K% to 23%, compared to 24.1% last season. Between his phenomenal walk rate and massive power output, Alvarez comes in with a .395 wOBA and 149 wRC+.

Alvarez has taken a heavy flyball approach to the plate. His FB% is well over 50%, clocking in at 53.1%. However, this has come at the cost of his line-drive rate, which sits at 10.2%. Because his line drive rate is so low, his batting average on balls in play is a lowly .258. Though even if he increases his line drive rate to around 15%, he might be a .260-.270 hitter.

You probably wouldn’t expect a guy who weighs in at 5’7″, 175 pounds to have a .300+ isolated slugging percentage and be on pace for over 30 home runs this season. But Alvarez’s big power output should earn him some attention this year. Alvarez has seen time all over the field. He’s primarily a 2B/3B/SS kind of infielder but also has 45.1 innings logged in left field. He is probably the next guy up when Oneil Cruz or Ji-Hwan Bae are promoted, whichever happens first.