As the Marlins approach the end of spring training, a former All-Star eyes roster spot

As the Miami Marlins get into crunch time in spring training, with just one week of Grapefruit League games left on the docket, spots on the 25-man roster are starting to become clearer and the bubble for those final few spots are beginning to diminish.

Pedro Alvarez, a veteran non-roster invitee to major league camp, is doing as much as he can in this final stretch to stay relevant and perhaps make the Marlins give a long, hard look as they make their final decisions.

After all, he has one innate trait that the Marlins roster is greatly missing: Power.

Just look at his last two games. Alvarez had three at-bats in those games. The results: three home runs.

“Obviously, I’m always just trying to put good contact on the ball and the more consistently you can do that, the better results you’ll get,” Alvarez said. “Right now, I’m just trying to stick with a good approach at the plate and stay within myself.”

Alvarez, 32, has nine years of MLB experience playing with both the Pittsburgh Pirates (2010-2015) and Baltimore Orioles (2016-2018). He was an All-Star in 2013, a year in which he led the National League with 36 home runs and had a career-best 100 RBI. However, Alvarez has played in just 59 games at the major league level over the past two seasons.

The Marlins signed him to a minor-league deal in December with the opportunity to compete at major league camp.

“I’m just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get,” Alvarez said. “I’m staying ready for whenever I get an opportunity. Just coming in every day and working on what I need to work on. The end goal, obviously, you want to be on the club and help this team win some games. That starts here.”

After his three home runs, Alvarez is hitting .345 this spring (10 for 29) with a team-best 10 RBI. Half of his hits have gone for extra bases. However, most of his playing time this spring has come in the later innings, when most teams are putting reserves and prospects into games to give them playing time heading into the season.

“It’s not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s something that can happen over the course of the season,” Alvarez said. “There’s no excuses when it comes to that, especially at this stage. In this day and age in the game, with all the double-switching, sometimes games are won by guys who come off the bench. You just have to stay ready, stay loose. Again, it’s not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s necessary.”

Another challenge facing Alvarez is the fact that he’s not on the 40-man roster. If the Marlins were to put him on the Opening Day roster, they would need to remove someone else already on the 40-man roster, which would subject that player to waivers unless a player projected to be on the Opening Day roster starts on the Injured List. Alvarez’s best chance of making the team would be as a left-handed pinch-hitter who would also serve as a backup first baseman.

“Obviously, being non-roster is somewhat of an issue,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “But also, that can change.”

Alvarez is not the only player outside the 40-man roster who has turned heads in camp. Mattingly has been impressed by outfielders Gabriel Guerrero and Harold Ramirez as well. They are likely longer shots to make the roster, but Mattingly said nothing is being ruled out until a decision has to be made.

“You just keep looking,” Mattingly said. “You never know.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 12:29 PM.