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PG's Bill Brink: Pirates Will Be Patient With Pedro Alvarez

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - The Pirates offense wakes up in Arizona, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pirates' beat writer Bill Brink joins Sportsradio 93-7 The Fan's Vinnie & Cook for the latest analysis.

Even though Pittsburgh's offense showed signs of life in a 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks, many Pirates fans are still worried about Pedro Alvarez. But Brink doesn't expect the coaches to do anything drastic with Alvarez just yet.

"They don't want to overhaul anything," Brink says. "The guy hit 30 home runs last year. They don't need a drastic revamp of his swing. They've just gotta try to get him to find his groove, and I think the best way to do that is to keep putting him out there."

Pirates' pitcher Wandy Rodriguez injured a hamstring during his start at Arizona, and Brink shares what he's hearing about the severity of the injury.

"It didn't appear to be too serious, but it didn't appear to be good," Brink reports. "He was throwing warmup pitches to see if he could loosen it up. We don't know yet if they're going to have to put him on the disabled list or if they're just going to have to skip a start. The off-day Thursday gives them a little flexibility, and he wouldn't need to start again until a week from today (Tuesday)."

Brink also updates how far Francisco Liriano and Charlie Morton may perhaps be from joining the Pirates, and whether new hitting coach Jay Bell can turn things around for the offense.

Post-Gazette Pirates writer Bill Brink

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