What to do whith Andy LaRoche when Pedro Alvarez comes up?

I’d like to take some time to discuss a question that I feel only fans of the Pirates would be discussing: what will the team do with third baseman Andy LaRoche when Pedro Alvarez comes up?

Previously, the possibility has been considered of moving LaRoche to second. However, Neil Walker has established himself as the new everyday second baseman, and he looks every bit like the second baseman of the future at the moment.

The possibility was considered when Alvarez was drafted that he may have to move to first due to his defense. LaRoche is certainly a better defender at third than Alvarez. However, the team seems determined to not only leave Alvarez at third base, but to give Steve Pearce and Jeff Clement time to prove that they can be Major League first basemen as well.

Frankly, I have to wonder why we should care.

I was among LaRoche’s biggest defenders coming into this season, but he’s now had 1141 plate appearances at the Major League level to prove himself. In those plate appearances he has hit .231/.313/.349. Those are fringe numbers for a shortstop or a backup catcher, let alone a starting third baseman.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit there are a few caveats here. During his time with the Dodgers, LaRoche’s plate appearances were scattered as he was shuffled between the Majors and AAA, never really getting a shot at the Major League level. However, since coming to Pittsburgh, LaRoche has been an everyday player. He’s had 921 of his career plate appearances as a Pirate. In that time, he’s done nothing to show that he can hit.

Caveat number two is that he’s been dealing with back pain this year. I’m willing to take that into consideration, but if his back issues were that bad, he should be on the disabled list. Both he and the team deem him able to play. Back issues or not, he’s hit .240/.306/.329 so far in 2010.

Caveat number three is that last season was LaRoche’s first full season in the Major Leagues, and he put up a perfectly average 2.6 WAR, meaning he was strong enough defensively despite a wholly uninspiring .258/.330/.401 line. He also went on a power surge late in the year. Those things are all true, but Alvarez projects to be much more than an average player, and LaRoche’s power surge doesn’t appear to have carried over into this season.

I’m not saying the team should entirely give up on LaRoche. All the caveats I mentioned above play a factor, but the biggest things to consider are that he didn’t have a full season of Major League ball under his belt until last year, and he is still young at 26 years old. (That said, this is the time where he’s supposed to be hitting his physical prime. If this is the best he can do, I’m not impressed.)

What I am saying is that nobody should be concerned if LaRoche is unapologetically moved to the bench, where he can perhaps adopt the Delwyn Young role as a pinch hitter and a backup player at third and in the outfield.

Perhaps if Alvarez shows an inability to hit left-handed pitching at the Major League level, LaRoche could platoon with him. However, Alvarez now has a .333/.424/.684 line against lefties vs a .281/.371/.523 line against righties. It’s a small sample size, and over his career he’s been much weaker against left handed pitching, but if this is a trend that continues there would be no need for a platoon.

It’s a shame that LaRoche hasn’t panned out like the top prospect he once was, but he hasn’t. It’s time to move on to somebody else.