Third baseman Pedro Alvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates has been named National League Player of the Week for the period
ending June 23rd. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
In seven games last week, Alvarez ranked among league leaders in multiple offensive categories. The second overall pick in the 2008
Draft paced the N.L. with 10 RBI while hitting four home runs (T-2nd), collecting 27 total bases (3rd), and slugging .931 (4th). Alvarez hit .414
(12-for-29) for the week, the Senior Circuit’s fifth-best mark, while his five runs scored were tied for seventh and his .452 on-base percentage
ranked ninth. He collected at least a hit in each of his seven games, helping the Pirates to a 5-2 record for the week.
On Tuesday at Cincinnati, Alvarez’s two-run single in the top of the first inning gave the Bucs an early 3-0 lead and helped Pittsburgh
right-hander Charlie Morton earn his first win of the season. The Vanderbilt University product’s five-RBI performance in Thursday’s series
finale was the difference in a 5-3 Pirates victory that earned them a split in the four-game set with their N.L. Central rivals. Alvarez kept the
Pirates on pace with the Reds throughout the day, clubbing an RBI single in the top of the third and a solo homer in the sixth, before giving his
club a 5-2 lead in the seventh with a clutch three-run double. The left-handed-hitting slugger continued his torrid road trip as the Pirates
traveled to the West Coast to take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In the first of the three-game set at Angel Stadium, Alvarez went
2-for-3 with a walk and crushed his 17th homer of the year as Pittsburgh took a 5-2 decision. On Saturday, the 26-year-old went 2-for-4 with a
double and a home run on the way to a 6-1 Pirates victory. Alvarez clubbed his 19th home run of the season in the first inning of Sunday’s
series finale to give the Bucs an early 1-0 lead. His leadoff double in the 10th inning of the game sparked a four-run Pirates rally in an eventual win.