Dunlap: Pedro Can Be So Puzzling
Pedro.
Just say it here in Pittsburgh --- breathe that singular name into a microphone on a sports talk show or announce it to the person next to you at the bar and the conversation begins.
It has become like religion and/or politics.
Just start the conversation and you're off, on tangents and subtrails, into what will sure turn into arguments and quarrels and head-scratching.
Pedro has become kind of like Jeff Verszyla in January, with no one being paid more attention to yet no one being sworn at more when he flashes up on that television.
There is, quite simply, no grey area with Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez.
Seems you either cling steadfast to the guy being right for this club or want to run him out of town on the next flight out of Findlay Township.
No matter what side of the fence on which you reside, however, there's an undeniable truth: He should be better by this point in his career; he should be better by this point in the 2015 season, too. The numbers he's put up --- both in his career and in the past four months --- don't match the pedigree and the raw talents of the second overall pick in the 2008 draft.
I haven't talked to him about this recently, but here's a very educated guess: Alvarez, himself, would positively agree he needs to get --- and should be --- better. All the guy has ever wanted to do was help this organization win and the come-out-of-nowhere way in which he all of a sudden lost his ability to make throws from third base last year (and eventually lost that job) took a deep personal toll on him.
That much isn't a guess.
All that aside, however, the Pirates are in the thick of a pennant chase as July will soon flip to August and are faced with a very real and pragmatic question: "What do we do with Pedro Alvarez?"
The power is intoxicating when it happens, but is it nearly enough to offset the 15 errors he's made at first base and flubs like the one against the Brewers on Friday evening when a routine grounder slid past him and left Bucnation baffled?
Again, however it all gets back to this: What better options do the Pirates have? Do you want to see Travis Ishikawa --- the starter at that position to begin the 2014 season --- get starting reps at first base in the thick of a race and relegate Alvarez to, essentially, a late-inning, left-handed pinch hitter?
Would that be the best use of Alvarez's power? To see it sporadically off the bench? Or could that have an even worse impact, as not playing regularly would crush any offensive continuity he could muster in the second half?
I ask these questions because, well, I don't know either.
Do you want to see Sean Rodriguez --- who has struggled mightily with the bat as of late --- as the everyday guy at first base, even against pitchers from the right side? Would that serve to help this team best?
Again I ask because, well, I don't know either.
Do you want to see Clint Hurdle and management ride it out with Alvarez, hoping the ledger tilts to where the offense he provides will overcome the defensive inadequacies? In a sense stick with Alvarez because there's a confidence that he will hit an offensive stride all the while getting better and better with more in-game defensive reps.
Want to try to go get Adam Lind from Milwaukee?
OK, then, sure ---- but at what cost? And what do you do with Alvarez then? Keep he and Lind on the same roster?
It is all so puzzling and precarious, all so perplexing and paradoxical.
And it all starts with saying that one word.
Pedro.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
