ST. LOUIS — At baseball’s winter meetings in December, manager Clint Hurdle was asked point-blank whether Pedro Alvarez would be the Pirates’ everyday first baseman in 2015.
“Right now, Pedro is pencilled in to play first base today,” Hurdle replied. “And Pedro’s bat will tell us how much Pedro's going to play.”
There was no denying Alvarez’s all-around down year in 2014, but what gave Hurdle hope was recalling the NLDS in 2013, when Alvarez capped a 36-home run season by hitting .353 with three homers in the five-game series against the St.