Alvarez goes fishing for River Bandits

On their way to another National League West crown, the Dodgers filled a need in their bullpen with a deadline-day deal last August for Astros reliever Josh Fields. The cost was a 19-year-old Cuba native who had yet to play a game on American soil.
Now showing what the hype was about, Yordan Alvarez is making Houston's end of the deal look better and better, much to the delight of Class A Quad Cities manager Russ Steinhorn.

Alvarez slugged a monstrous homer and drove in a career-high five runs as the River Bandits rolled past the Kane County Cougars, 14-5, on Sunday at Modern Woodmen Park. Quad Cities snapped a 3-3 tie by scoring 11 runs over the seventh and eighth innings.
Gameday box score
The No. 14 Astros prospect extended his hitting streak to 10 games, during which he's batting .514 with nine RBIs, nine runs scored and seven multi-hit performances. Overall, he's hitting .403/.488/.627 with nine extra-base hits and 14 RBIs in his first 19 games in the United States.
"He's got a very advanced approach, and right now, he's just locked in," Steinhorn said. "He's looking for specific pitches and not expanding the zone at all. If he gets his pitch, he's putting his best swing on it, which is impressive for a 19-year-old playing in the States and under the lights for the first time."
Following a strikeout in his first at-bat and with Kane County leading, 3-0, heading into the bottom of the third, Alvarez came to the plate with two outs and two runners on. The 6-foot-5 lefty unloaded on Emilio Vargas' first-pitch offering, sending it over the right-field fence and into the Mississippi River to tie the game, 3-3. 

"He's got plus power and can flat-out hit. I mean, this guy was in a Major League trade without having even played in organized ball yet," the River Bandits' skipper said. "It's exciting to watch and very exciting to see him grow. I was there with him [in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League] last year and have seen the maturity since then. He came to extended [spring training] ready to work and to find a position without sacrificing his abilities at the plate."
Alvarez went down looking to end the fifth, but came through with a clutch hit in the seventh. Batting again with two outs and runners at first and second, the designated hitter lined a 2-0 pitch into center for an RBI single that ignited a five-run rally for the River Bandits. He drove in his fifth run of the game in the eighth with a bases-loaded walk, his 12th free pass of the season, and scored on Raymond Henderson's sacrifice fly.
"Through these first 20 games, he's everything we've heard and more," Steinhorn said. "He's been the same person since the day I met him. He's going through the process of being a pro and going about things the right way while maturing very quickly. He's not letting any hype he might have surrounding him or any of his hot streaks affect his mind-set or approach as a professional."
Henderson also homered and drove in a career-high four runs for Quad Cities, which got two hits and three RBIs from Chuckie Robinson. Carmen Benedetti and Taylor Jones went a combined 6-for-8 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
Fifth-ranked Houston prospect Forrest Whitley surrendered three runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in three innings. 

D-backs No. 9 prospectAnfernee Grier notched his first career-four hit game and scored three times. No. 23 Jose Herrera and Ramon Hernandez drove in two runs apiece for Kane County.
Vargas didn't factor into the decision despite striking out a season-high 11 over 5 2/3 innings. The 20-year-old right-hander allowed three runs on five hits and a walk in his longest outing of the year.