After all of the waiting, it's finally happened - the Pittsburgh Pirates have called up big-time prospect Pedro Alvarez. Alvarez will make his Major League debut Wednesday night, batting sixth and playing third base.
Pirates Promote Pedro Alvarez; Top Prospect To Play Third
Alvarez joins Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln as recent prospect call-ups as the Pirates make themselves over. To make room for Alvarez on the roster, the Pirates designated Akinori Iwamura for assignment. Aki batted just .192, and lost his job to the younger Walker a couple weeks ago.
Pirates blog Bucs Dugout is happy to have Alvarez around, but warns that people should be cautious:
Alvarez struggled for a while after starting the season with Indianapolis, and he also struggled a bit in his first exposure to pro ball, with Lynchburg. He still has 67 strikeouts in 239 at bats in Indianapolis and will probably struggle some to hit for a high average. And his defense has never been particularly good.
Alvarez leaves AAA Indianapolis having batted .277/.363/.533, with 13 homers in 278 trips to the plate.
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