Pedro Alvarez: Teammates' Support Makes Uncomfortable Feeling That Much Easier
BRADENTON (93-7 The Fan) – Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez sat down with "The Fan Morning Show" at Spring Training in Bradenton this week to talk about getting ready for the 2015 season and making the move from third base to first base.
Alvarez said that the transition is already off to a great start.
"It's been going very well," Alvarez said. "I've been getting a lot of help over there. I've been getting a lot of reps. It's been going pretty smoothly so far, it's just a matter of getting some game repetitions."
He said that his teammates have made the process much easier.
"It's a huge help, obviously, when you know that you have the support of your teammates and the staff and everybody around you," Alvarez said. "It makes any kind of uncomfortable feeling or any kind of transition all that much easier just because you know you have 25 other players behind you. It's just that support system that you have when you have good team chemistry, and there's not a shortage of that here."
In his mind, the best way to get better at first base is to continue to play first base.
"It's just going to be a matter of just playing, playing, playing," Alvarez said. "I feel comfortable enough to go out there. I played a couple games last year, and I have zero hesitation when it comes to playing in the game."
When asked about this group potentially getting stronger from the years they've spent together, Alvarez said that he can see things moving in the right direction.
"I think that's the idea that every day you get to play with the same group of guys, that group becomes closely-knit," Alvarez said. "And we've had the opportunity, like you said, to come up - a lot of us - through the system, and that bond just continues to get stronger as our careers continue to unravel."
The interview can be heard here: