But the people labeling him a bust are being way over the top.

Alvarez has had only 579 plate appearances in his career. That’s not even a full season yet. I know that this is an era where fans are told that every prospect is the next Babe Ruth and that they’re going to be the best ever, but the reality is that most prospects don’t start their time in the Majors out hot.

It’s particularly hard, I think, for Pittsburgh sports fans to grasp this. Pittsburgh is a city where Ben Roethlisberger comes in the year he’s drafted and turns a 6-10 team into a 15-1 team that makes it to the AFC Championship. It’s a city where Sidney Crosby comes in and immediately lives up to his “the next Gretzky” hype. It’s a city where Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders have back to back great rookie seasons. And even in the case of a Pirates fan that’s not also a Steelers and Penguins fan, Andrew McCutchen came up and immediately performed well, as did Neil Walker last year.

Pittsburghers aren’t used to waiting for young players to develop. But the reality is that most baseball players don’t start out like Pujols or McCutchen. Most players have a pretty lengthy adjustment period when it comes to Major League pitching. In fact, even some of the greatest of all time have some pretty ugly starts to their career.

In an effort to prove a point, I started the hashtag on Twitter last night #PedroAlvarezBust. Basically all I did was look at players who have had good, great, or even legendary careers and pointed out that even those players sometimes didn’t start out so hot. The ones I pointed out all had starts to their careers that were just as bad or even worse than Alvarez, and they included such names as Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Barry Bonds, Robin Yount, Brooks Robinson, Ralph Kiner, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Clemente, and Reggie Jackson.

Tim at Pirates Prospects points out here that both Aramis Ramirez and Jose Bautista had slow starts to their careers as well, and the Pirates have been crucified over the years for giving up on both of them. And yet those same fans that do the criticizing now want us to give up on Pedro Alvarez, who has a chance to be the next Ramirez or Bautista.

It always amuses me how we can look back in hindsight and say what a team should have done, but during the time Ramirez and Bautista were here, everything that’s said about Alvarez now was said about Ramirez, and people were simply apathetic toward Bautista and his mediocre career. Now that he’s gone, Bautista’s 1520 plate appearances in Pittsburgh suddenly become insignificant and the team should have been more patient with him, and yet those same fans want Alvarez sent to AAA based on about a third of that sample.

Am I saying that because he’s started poorly, Alvarez is destined to be as good as those guys? Of course not. Some players start out poorly and never heat up. And some players start out red hot and never amount to anything. The point I’m making is simply that it’s way too early to say what Pedro Alvarez is. Maybe he’ll be a bust, and maybe he’ll become the greatest hitter of all time. It’s entirely too soon to say.

7-Day DL:

Ronny Cedeno

15-Day DL:

Pedro Alvarez
Jose Tabata
Steven Pearce
Joe Beimel
Ryan Doumit
Evan Meek

60-Day DL:

Chris Snyder
Kevin Hart
Ross Ohlendorf

That’s a pretty long list, and one that includes six starters and the guy who started the season as the set-up man. The good news is we should start to see some of these players returning soon. However, this may cause a log jam at a few positions…after all, some of these replacements have played pretty well. So here’s a breakdown of what I think should happen when these players return:

C:

Barring a setback, Doumit is supposedly on target to return to action late this month. Then again, this is Doumit we’re talking about and he’ll probably have a setback. Snyder is probably out for the year with a back injury. That’s left the team splitting playing time with Michael McKenry and Eric Fryer. Both have played good defense, but neither of them have shown an ability to hit in their limited number of plate appearances. McKenry has been getting the lion’s share of the starts.

When Doumit comes back, the odds are he’ll be the starting catcher. He’s improved his defense from “easily the worst in baseball” to “probably around average,” and he’s the best hitter of the bunch in a lineup that definitely needs some offense. Fryer and McKenry would both make decent backups, but I see the nod going to McKenry. Fryer is a prospect, while McKenry is an organizational guy, so I imagine that the team would rather see Fryer getting starts at the AAA level than riding the pine at the Major League level – especially since he only played 21 games in AAA before getting called up.

3B:

This one is a no brainer. When Pedro Alvarez comes back, he’ll start. The bench spot will be either Josh Harrison or Brandon Wood. Before Chase d’Arnaud’s call-up, this spot would have gone to Wood simply because he could play SS if needed. Now, it could go either way. The likely scenario is that Wood will still get the nod because Harrison has options left and can be sent to AAA without exposing him to waivers, but Harrison has been the better of the two players and probably has more of a future as a utility man in the Major Leagues. However, Steven Pearce can play all the positions that Harrison can with the exception of 2B and he’s a much better hitter, so it will likely be Harrison going to AAA when all these players are active.

OF:

Alex Presley has very much impressed in his short time in the Majors. He’s showcased speed, extra base power, good defense and good plate discipline, and he’s hit Major League pitching pretty much exactly as well as he was hitting AAA pitching, posting a .324/.381/.541 line. Unless he’s a future Hall of Famer, he probably won’t continue to hit that well, but he’s definitely earned a starting spot and demonstrated that he can hit Major League pitching well. When Tabata comes back, I can see Garrett Jones moving to first base and Presley moving to right field full time. This would also have the effect of benching the ineffective Lyle Overbay, who the Pirates may just cut if they go this route. Ideally, the team would also platoon Pearce at first with Jones, since Jones can’t hit lefties to save his life while Pearce eats them for breakfast.

SS:

I’m not sure when Pirates fans decided that Ronny Cedeno was a great player, but for some reason this is the most controversial roster decision in terms of the fan base. Here are the facts as I see them:

• Ronny Cedeno has played excellent defense this season – some of the best in the Majors at his position. HOWEVER
• Cedeno is terrible at hitting, so even though he’s played amazing defense, he’s only accumulated a 1.1 WAR this season. In other words, awesome glove or not, he’s been a replacement level player.
• Cedeno has been better at hitting as of late, but he’s known to be streaky and even though he’s been better he still hasn’t been good or even average for a SS with the stick.

All that said, Chase d’Arnaud hasn’t torn the cover off the ball yet either, and while he’s a lot more fun to watch than Cedeno, his defense isn’t as good. Of the two, Cedeno may be the better option. However, d’Arnaud is most likely the future of the SS position in Pittsburgh. He’s shown flashes of the things that made him good in the minors – the gap power, the speed, the solid defense – but 12 games isn’t really enough time to put it all together in the Majors. My solution would be to keep d’Arnaud up and get him two starts a week to see what he can do, and if he outplays Cedeno make him the starter. The team’s solution, on the other hand, will probably be to keep Brandon Wood around and send d’Arnaud back to AAA…and I can’t say I strongly oppose that idea, either.

UPDATE: I completely forgot that Pedro Ciriaco is on the current Major League team. That’s not entirely surprising, since Ciriaco literally never plays. He’s obviously going to be the first one sent down when Cedeno comes back.

Hopefully this is just a minor bump in the road, as Alvarez seemed to be coming around with the bat. Perhaps he was struggling so much because of an injury? Who knows.

I expect to see either Steven Pearce or Brandon Wood take Alvarez’s place at third for the time being, possibly in a platoon situation. That should be…interesting.

The Bucs handled this one easily. Jeff Karstens was cruising, allowing only three hits and a run through his six innings of work, striking out four, walking nobody, and taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning. For some reason, a lot of fans want Brad Lincoln called up and Karstens taken out of the rotation. While I’m not opposed to the idea of Lincoln getting a chance in the Majors, I think Karstens has earned his stay in the rotation for a while as he’s sporting a 3-2 record and a 3.62 ERA. He has his problems going deep into games, but so do most fifth starters. Let him stay in the rotation until he either proves he can’t or Lincoln proves he’s too good to keep in AAA. Right now, neither thing is happening.

Neil Walker turned on beast mode in this one, collecting two hits which both went for extra bases – a double and a homer. He collected five RBIs on the day and six total bases hitting from the cleanup spot.

Andrew McCutchen had a hit, a walk, and a steal, and looks to be turning it on at the plate lately after a somewhat disappointing start batting average wise.

Ronny Cedeno continued his hot streak with a hit and a steal. He even threw in a walk for good measure. Actually, Cedeno has been walking much more recently than he normally does. Tonight’s game brings his triple-slash to an unreal .322/.435/.458 since April 29. I know this probably won’t last, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it while it does.

Garrett Jones had a single, a double and a walk, knocking in two runs.

Jose Tabata had two hits, two walks and three runs scored. Hopefully this is a sign of him breaking out of his slump.

Even Lyle Overbay got in on the act, hitting a solo homer in the sixth inning.

It’s great to see a strong performance from this team as we open interleague play, as this is usually the point in the season when the team falls off a cliff that they can never climb back up.

The only complaints I can possibly have about this game are that Pedro Alvarez was on the bench for Brandon Wood (an emerging trend that I’m not at all a fan of – especially when Alvarez homered last night.) and that I had Tabata on the bench in my fantasy league. The Bucs are now playing .500 ball in blowouts. This is, again, a significant improvement over their 2010 record of 11-39 in such games.

After this game, the Pirates record in blowouts (defined as a margin of victory or defeat of 5 runs or more) in 2011 stands at 4-5. And this one was a big one.

Not only did this blowout stop a 6-game losing streak, but Pedro Alvarez opened up the scoring with a 3-run homer. It looks like he may be putting it together at the plate, as he’s hit pretty well in the last three games he’s played. That’s obviously incredibly important, as if there’s one hitter the Pirates can’t afford to miss on it’s Alvarez.

Also on the homers-by-struggling-players list was Andrew McCutchen, who hit his eighth of the year. For all the criticisms of McCutchen this year – namely that he’s not stealing much, he’s not getting on like he usually does, etc. he is seeming to find his power stroke this year. He’s on pace for over 25 home runs, which would be a first in his young career. If he can hit for that type of power and get on base at his normal rate he could be even more dangerous than he already is.

In addition, the Pirates got a great performance out of Charlie Morton as he pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out five. Morton has really looked like the pitcher his stuff says he can be this year, pitching dominant ball. He’s been seeing a decrease in his walks lately as well, aside from a May 1 start where he walked five. It looks like he’s really settling in to his new pitching style.

One more blowout victory, and the Bucs can be at .500 in blowouts this year. That’s not bad, considering they were a horrible 11-39 (.220) in such games last season.

Firstly, a complete recording of Game Seven of the 1960 World Series was found recently in Bing Crosby’s wine cellar. It’s the only complete game footage that exists of that historic game, and it’s a super big deal. I meant to write about it last week, but all my profs decided everything was going to be due that week.

The footage is going to be shown on MLB Network and will be made into a DVD. I can’t imagine a scenario where that’s not a must-purchase for any die-hard Pirates fan. The story is also an excellent read, and I would encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already.

Secondly, Pedro Alvarez was named the NL player of the week after going 10-for-24 (.417) with two home runs and four doubles. Sure, it’s September stats, the call-ups are here, not everyone’s playing for the postseason, numbers are always inflated, etc. But it’s nice to see.

Thirdly, with their loss today, the Pirates are a mere one loss away from locking up the worst record in baseball. Silver lining? The first overall draft pick in 2011, which is looking like it’ll shape up to be Anthony Rendon, of whom Jim Callis of Baseball America was quoted as saying “If he had been eligible for the 2010 draft, I would have rated him ahead of Bryce Harper as a prospect.” Sounds good.

The Pirates have four players in their everyday lineup – Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata – who are either rookies or in their second year of Major League baseball. All of them are young players, Walker being the oldest at 24. It would be easy to point to this fact and say “that’s why we have so many fundamental mistakes. There are so many young players.”

This all came to a head for me today when I was listening to Rocco DeMaro’s post-game show Extra Innings, and Greg Brown said he thought the team should get a veteran like Cincinnati did with Scott Rolen, and talking about how in Texas they have a lot of young players and he had heard a story about how they all listen to Michael Young because of his experience. He then dismissed the previous signings of guys like Doug Mientkiewicz and Eric Hinske (and presumably Ryan Church this year) because none of them were starters.

There’s probably some truth to the fact that young players tend to listen to what veterans have to say when it comes to playing the game. Speaking personally, if I were a rookie I would soak up every bit of information I could from veterans.

The problem is, it’s not the young players that keep making the mistakes, it’s the team’s veterans! While guys like Pedro Alvarez have made a few physical mistakes such as striking out way too often, I can’t recall seeing any of the four players I named above make a mental mistake this season. That’s come from the team’s vets.

Ryan Doumit has made mistake after mistake this season, both physical and mental. He’s been a big leaguer since 2005, yet he almost cost the Pirates a game because he tried to tag up from second with one out as the go-ahead run, and then he didn’t even slide when he ran home.

Lastings Milledge may only be 25 years old, but remember that he was once considered to be the next big thing in baseball and came up at a young age. He’s been in the Majors since 2006, only a year less than Doumit. His baserunning errors and misjudgement in the outfield both when running routes and when deciding whether or not to dive have reached nearly legendary status in Pittsburgh.

Ronny Cedeno and Bobby Crosby are both experienced shortstops, with Cedeno having been in the Majors since 2005 and Crosby since 2003. Despite a strong defensive showing, Cedeno made so many gaffes at the plate and on the bases that he’s effectively been benched in favor of Crosby, and Crosby has responded by playing even worse, collecting seven errors in his fifteen games at short.

This team doesn’t need any veteran leadership, it needs to play like its rookies have.

If you don’t know who I’m talking about by now, you’ve been living under a rock. Pedro Alvarez has been the biggest name to come to the Majors since Strasburg, and not just for Pirates fans – the third baseman was ranked the eighth best prospect in the Majors to start the year by Baseball America.

Tonight, Alvarez went 0-for-2 at the plate with a walk and a strikeout. He also committed and error in the field, leaving him a homer shy of what I refer to as the Adam Dunn cycle. (Speaking of which, Alvarez has zero home runs this year! Clearly it’s time to bench him to get Ryan Church into the lineup!)

Not to sound like a wet blanket, but this is the kind of production I expect from him at first. At each level of his pro career this far, Alvarez has started out with about a month’s time of being a player who will either walk, strike out, or hit a home run before adjusting to the level and becoming a more dynamic hitter who will also have a respectable batting average. This is not unusual for players like Alvarez, and even if he struggles out of the gate, by the end of the year everyone should start to realize what a special talent he is.

Overall, Alvarez looked very patient at the plate, working deep into counts in every plate appearance. That type of patience will not only lead to better pitches to hit and more walks, it will also make starting pitchers work harder, which is always a plus.

As for the rest of the game, it was mostly uninspiring. The aforementioned six errors were committed by Bobby Crosby twice, Javier Lopez, Ryan Doumit, Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker. Aside from Walker, nobody expects any of these guys to be good fielders, and Walker can be forgiven since he’s still got barely over a month of experience at second under his belt. Still, six errors is inexcusable even to a person who hates the error statistic.

However, there were also some encouraging things, as Jose Tabata hit his first Major League home run and Lastings Milledge went 2-for-3 with a double, which will hopefully keep him in the lineup instead of Ryan Church and his .179/.220/.308 line.

On another note all together, I realize how late I am on this, but the corresponding move to bring Alvarez up was to designate Aki Iwamura for assignment. The team has said that they hope to work out a trade in the next ten days, but considering how disappointing Iwamura has been all year, I’m not optimistic that anything will get done, or that even if anything does get done that anything even remotely interesting will be coming our way.

No details yet on when his first start will be or what the corresponding move is, but Alvarez was told after today’s game in AAA at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that he’s been called up. Scranton is within driving distance of Pittsburgh, so Alvarez presumably won’t even have to fly is and will probably start tomorrow’s 7:05 game against the White Sox. You can put me down as “psyched” for this, as Thursday is one of the rare times when the White Sox will be broadcast on WGN instead of the Cubs, I have the day off work, and even having to put up with the White Sox horrible announcing booth won’t kill my excitement.

Update son corresponding moves and whatever else to come as they’re available.

UPDATE 1: AAA Indianapolis play-by-play man Scott McCauley and ESPN’s Buster Olney confirm the story. Still no word on a corresponding move, but it won’t be Andrew McCutchen to the DL: he left the game today, but it was only a cramp in his calf. He was taken out for precautionary reasons.

UPDATE 2: Jenifer Langosch tweets that we won’t know the corresponding move until tomorrow when Alvarez is in Pittsburgh. If it were up to me, I would cut Ryan Church simply so John Russel couldn’t start him so freaking much.