2010 Pedro Alvarez vs. 2011 Pedro Alvarez

I don't have a lot of time here, but I just wanted to make another quick post about Pedro Alvarez and his slow start. So far this year Pedro has 11 hits in 60 at bats with only 2 extra base hits (both doubles) and 22 strikeouts. A lot of people are starting to get nervous about this slow start. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned as well.

The thing is that I think a lot of people don't remember how horrible he was at the beginning of his big league career last year as well. Let's take a look at that:

So far in 2011, Pedro has had 65 plate appearances, so let's look at what he did last year in a similar sample. Pedro made his big league debut on June 16. After the Pirates game with the Phillies, in which Pedro hit his first home run, he had 63 plate appearances. Here are the numbers from those 63 appearances, compared directly with what he's done this year in his first 65:

2010: 63 PA, 58 AB, 5 R, 11 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 25 K
2011: 65 PA, 60 AB, 3 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 22 K

Those lines are ridiculously similar, and when you consider what Alvarez did after those first 63 plate appearances in 2010, your worry starts to ease a bit, doesn't it?

Now it's not exactly fair to compare this year to last, since Pedro had been hitting professional pitching for a couple months prior to his big league debut in 2010, which could have helped him break out of the initial slump with more ease. We haven't had the opportunity to see how he reacts to starting in the big leagues yet, so we don't know for sure how well those two lines above relate to each other. However, it is certainly interesting to note how similar they are.

Pedro has all the talent he needs to be an all-star in this league. His skill set and ability to hit the ball seems too great for him to underperform like this for long. After Alvarez finds his groove and gets his timing down, he should turn into the beast we saw in the last few months of 2010, if not much better.