Pedro Alvarez and the "brotherhood" on the Orioles

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles will load up on the roster cuts today after putting it off again last night. They need to whittle down the pitching to a more manageable number.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to learn more about Pedro Alvarez as he shows up each morning at the complex. He wasn't sitting at his locker yesterday morning during the one hour that the doors were open to the media. He actually walked past our workroom on his way to the half-field, an equipment bag strapped over his shoulder.

I've discovered that he's all-in, that he's determined to reward the Orioles - who expressed interest in him back in November - and make other teams regret their decision to pass on him.

Alvarez was swinging a bat, running and throwing Thursday morning before the ink dried on his contract. He was the first player on the field yesterday, immersed in an early session with third base coach Bobby Dickerson and infield instructor Mike Bordick.

The errors hurt Alvarez's pride, as does the mounting criticism. He committed 27 at third base in 2012 and 2013 and 25 in 2014. The Pirates moved him to first base last season, where he committed 23.

I've talked to people who watched Alvarez at Vanderbilt, who saw him in Pittsburgh, and say he's much better in the field than advertised. The number of errors and the .951 lifetime fielding percentage are a curiosity to them.

"I take a lot of pride in everything that I do, and not just baseball, but in life," Alvarez said on the "Hot Stove Show" on 105.7 The Fan. "But with that being said, I take a lot of pride in every facet of the game, whether it's hitting, defense, running the bases, and I want to always do it to the best of my ability. And I work hard and I'll continue to work hard on my defense every day.

"Yeah, obviously you feel like sometimes the numbers maybe aren't indicative of what you know you can do, and that's where I stand on that. I know my abilities, I know what I can do, I know what I'm capable of. I've shown it in the past and it's just a matter of going out there every day. When people want to throw numbers and stats out there, it's having that short-term memory and going out there and just competing every day and, again, continuing to grow."

The early days of Alvarez's tenure here also reveal that he's been embraced by his new teammates and, in turn, feels an instant bond with them. Just as former Vanderbilt roommate Ryan Flaherty told him would happen.

"You look at this lineup, you look at this team, it's very enticing. But also, talking to my good buddy Ryan for the last couple of years, I think one of the things that intrigued me even more is the fact that it's such a good group of guys," Alvarez said.

"I was very fortunate to be in a similar situation like that with the guys in Pittsburgh. A close knit team, guys that we came up together since high A. And again, just talking to Ryan, I get that same sense and he hasn't proved me wrong. I've been taken in like I've been here for years and they've made me feel so welcomed. It makes the move so much easier."

Alvarez saw Flaherty walk into the room Thursday before his press conference and assumed a joke was being played on him. Then he noticed Chris Tillman, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, J.J. Hardy, Brian Matusz, Kevin Gausman, Miguel Gonzalez, Yovani Gallardo and Brad Brach forming a line in the back.

"It's funny because I've never seen that, I've never experienced that," Alvarez said. "At first I thought they were just kind of messing with me. I saw Ryan go in there and I thought they were going to do some kind of prank. But they were there and it's genuine.

"It's one of those things where we have so many sabermetrics these days and stats and UZR and all this stuff, but I have yet to see a sabermetric for team chemistry. And those are the little things that, when you lay it out there every day between the lines, you lay it out for one another. And that's one of the things that makes it easy to do so because you have a group of guys who genuinely care about you and it's an actual brotherhood."

It's also become apparent this week that Alvarez loves baseball, warts and all. He can live with its fickle nature. He missed it deeply while waiting for the free agent process to play out, as evidenced by his refusal to leave the dugout during Thursday's game.

Manager Buck Showalter told Alvarez that it was OK to change out of his uniform and head home after a busy day. Alvarez didn't budge, staying for all nine innings before returning to the clubhouse.

"I think it's a combination of a lot of things," he said. "Obviously, first game, I've been longing to just be out there and soak it all in. It's just being around the guys and getting to know everybody.

"I wanted to immerse myself with this team and this culture and just really, more than anything, enjoy a baseball game that for the past couple weeks I've had to watch on a television screen. It's just a combination of a lot of those things. And it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on the future competition."