Former No. 2 overall draft pick Pedro Alvarez doesn’t show signs of life often, but he’s put on a display in Cleveland the last two days, smacking two homers in back-to-back games.
The Pirates third baseman also doubled in the 9-5 win over the Indians today, giving him his first three-hit game since April 21, 2011. He’s raised his average from .189 to .207 the last two days.
Alvarez became the first player this year to have two straight multihomer games. Mike Napoli was the only player to do it in 2011. It wasn’t the first time Alvarez had ever done it, though; he was one of two players to perform the feat in 2010 (Carlos Quentin being the other).
Unfortunately, the homers are pretty much all Alvarez has going for him this season. He’s up to 12 in 193 at-bats, but his on-base percentage is a dreadful .271. Prior to this weekend, he was in a slump that had seen him hit .143 with just one homer in his previous 33 games.
