.666 career OPS, OPSing .642 this year. I don't know what is going on with their roster but it does seem like a pretty poor bat to put in such a premium offensive position This seems to be a purely avoid making a critical error in a huge game move and Alvarez has booted the ball plenty this season, even at first. Kind of a double edged sword for them, put in the defensive lineup to save runs because you figure it'll be a low scoring game while at the same time handicapping yourself with less offense and reducing the likelihood you do score many runs.