In first full pro year, Dariel Alvarez is showing a well-rounded game at Bowie

Cuban outfielder Dariel Alvarez was signed by the Orioles in the middle of last summer. Now, less than a year later, and after just 44 minor league games, he is flashing some impressive tools and talents for Double-A Bowie and it has been showing up on the stat sheet as well. Going into last night's game, the 25-year-old right-handed hitter had four straight multi-hit games, going 11-for-20 with four doubles, a homer and six RBIs. Alvarez defected from the Cuban national team in January of 2013 and was cleared to sign with major league baseball teams a month later. The Cardinals and Twins were among the other teams showing interest, but Alvarez signed with the Orioles for $800,000 last July 24. He didn't play in a pro game for the first time until Aug. 12 when he debuted in the Gulf Coast League. He went on to Single-A Frederick and to Bowie, batting .342 in 22 games. He hit just .194 in nine Bowie games last August. But now that he's gone through an offseason and spring training, he's more comfortable with pro ball in the United States and he's showing what he can do. "When he came to us late last year he really didn't recognize pitches that well and was really pushing forward and coming out of his shoes to try and hit the ball too hard," Bowie manager Gary Kendall said. Kendall feels Alvarez has clicked well with Bowie field and batting coach Butch Davis, who is in his 20th year with the Orioles organization and his second as a Baysox coach. "What Butch has really done with him, is just try to slow him down a little bit and (get him to) trust himself and try to stay back (on the ball)," Kendall said. "That is a daily process with him. Even as hot as he's been Butch is constantly reminding him to slow down and trust his hands and drive the ball the other way. "He has tremendous hands and real good bat speed. He has good power the other way and drives the ball well the other way. A lot of his hard contact has been to right-center field. Butch is working with him on drills that Jeff Manto (O's minor league hitting coordinator) incorporated in spring training and Butch has run with it." The Orioles 15th-rated prospect according to Baseball America, Alvarez had two doubles and an RBI on opening night for Bowie and his bat hasn't slowed much since. He's been hitting over .300 almost all season for the Baysox. He went 1-for-3 as Bowie rallied in the ninth inning to win 3-2 at Richmond last night. In 22 games for the year, Alvarez is batting .355 with 11 doubles, three homers and 20 RBIs. His slugging percentage is .570 and OPS is .934. He is batting .394 against right-handed pitchers and is 12-for-24 when batting with runners in scoring position. Yeah, it's been going pretty well. "A point of emphasis with him, is allow himself to get deeper into counts," Kendall said. "Last year, a lot of his contact was early-count contact. Now he's recognizing good pitches from bad pitches." Alvarez is an above average defender that the Orioles are trying in center field this year. He has a big arm and before he signed, he did a showcase for some teams where he pitched, but in the end, he wanted to sign as a position player. "He's playing an outstanding center field," Kendall said. "It is something we didn't know if he'd be able to do but his routes and breaks have been really good. He's got a plus-plus throwing arm and it's accurate. A lot of guys have strong arms but they are not as accurate. "He moves well around the bases and we've been working on his baserunning. Trying to make better decisions out there. We're trying to make him the most complete player we possibly can here." Kendall was impressed with his defense late last year at Bowie and when he managed Alvarez in the Arizona Fall League, but he was playing right field then. "He actually moves better for me in center field defensively than he does on the base paths," Kendall said. "He closes on the ball well. Through a lot of hard work, he's been a really good player for us in center. "He works hard. We have a round of BP where they play everything off the bat and he goes out and works on it. He's a worker. He's got a ways to go, not the finished product yet, but so far he's showing the tools that we knew that he had." Alvarez among the Eastern League leaders: * First in doubles (11) * Tied for first in RBIs (20) and extra-base hits (14) * Tied for second in total bases (53) * Tied for third in hits (33) * Eighth in batting average (.355) Live chat today with Adam Jones: I'll be hosting a live chat with O's outfielder Adam Jones today at 1 p.m. You can watch it live on the front page of MASNSports.com. Click here to read more about it.