With the Pittsburgh Pirates’ season on the brink after news came out that reigning National League MVP Andrew McCutchen is heading to the disabled list, Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle has to find a way to get by for the next month and keep the team in the playoff chase.
There are many opinions out there on what to do to during the next month, but for Hurdle and his staff, the answer should be a simple one.
Ride Pedro Alvarez.
Now that isn’t the answer that many Pirates’ fans want to hear, especially the Alvarez haters out there, but it is really Hurdle’s only option.
Moving Starling Marte to center and playing Josh Harrison in left field every day with Alvarez at third base give the Pirates a much better chance at playing in October than trying to throw a Band-Aid over the situation by running Travis Snider, Michael Martinez and Jayson Nix out there on a regular basis.
The message to Alvarez needs to be a simple one.
“You are our third baseman. We need you.”
There also needs to be another message sent to Alvarez.
“You’re batting fourth every day. Go play ball.”
As much as the Pirates need to see some confidence from Alvarez, they also have to show some in him as well.
Hurdle needs to take the pressure off his slugger and turn him loose.
Penciling him in the lineup, especially in the cleanup spot every day for the next couple of weeks will show Alvarez the organization has faith in him.
Sure he is as frustrating as it gets, especially defensively, but the bottom line is the Pirates need his bat to start coming around and while everyone seems to have lost faith in the 27-year old.
Alvarez just needs to go out and be himself for the next three or four weeks. That means get everything out of his head. Just let the ball rip from third base and get back to pulling the baseball and hitting it hard.
So what if he strikes out a couple of times a game. Forget trying to go the other way and cut down on the strike outs for the time being and hit the ball hard to right and right center field.
Hurdle needs to send the message that Alvarez just needs to go out and play and Alvarez needs to go out there without the fear of getting benched and let his bat start to take over.
It’s a risky proposition for the Pirates but they need to sink or swim with Alvarez.
They very well may sink.
But if I’m Hurdle I am not going down with bullets left in my gun.
Starting Tuesday night against Miami, I’m running Alvarez out there again every night and hoping he catches fire.
If the Pirates are going to contend the rest of the way, they aren’t going to do it without him.
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