Pedro, Pedro......

I heard this Frank Coonelly interview yesterday on The Fan. The big news? He said Pedro Alvarez is "very close" to the majors. Normally I would think of a comment like that as just lip service, but its the opposite of the normal answer Coonelly or Huntington gives on a prospect. Usually, a guy has "a long way to go" or "there are still a number of issues we are working out that aren't necessarily reflected in stats" even if they plan on calling him up the next day. For example, Walker went from a "ways away" to on the team in a week and Brad Lincoln is about to do the same tonight.

So, Alvarez may be here sooner than we think. My guess is the next homestand as it would make sense to debut him at home since he is their best prospect since Barry Bonds.

Why is Alvarez probably ready? The weakness against left handed pitching has become a lot less pronounced. Actually, he is hitting better against LHPs than RHPs this year accoring to MILB.com.  He also has gotten progressively better each month (just like last year) going from a .721 OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) in April to .982 in May to 1.022 so far in June (through yesterday's game). His strikeouts are also down from last year.

This afternoon after I started writing this post? Alvarez went 3 for 4 with double, triple and 2 run homerun. All the hits were off the left handed starter. His OPS for the year is now .924 and 1.258 in June.

Tabata is here. Lincoln is here. Alvarez should be too.