Pedro Manuel Álvarez Jr. (born February 6, 1987), nicknamed "El Toro" (Spanish for "The Bull"), is a Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and infielder.

As a young boy, he grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan.

Though he attended a private school, Álvarez's abilities attracted the attention of scouts throughout the New York City area, especially after he led his club team, the Bayside Yankees, to a national title in 2005.

In recognition of his success, Louisville Slugger crowned him the Player of the Year in New York and also named him to its All-America team.

Though offered a substantial signing bonus,[7] Álvarez instead chose to play college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conference.

Álvarez started slowly at Vanderbilt but eventually became an integral member of the lineup, setting a single-season school record in home runs (22).

This production earned Álvarez National Freshman of the Year honors from several publications, including Baseball America.

In addition, Sports Illustrated ranked him as the best pro prospect on the team and said that he was the "early favorite to be drafted first in 2008", due to his impressive performance over the summer and as a freshman.

[8] Before the 2007 season began, Álvarez was named to the watchlist for the SEC and National Player of the Year awards.

Vanderbilt captured its first ever SEC regular season championship, and Álvarez was named Tournament MVP.

He agreed to a $6 million minor league contract with the Pirates on August 15, minutes before the deadline, but did not immediately sign it.

On September 22, Álvarez agreed to renegotiated terms on a four-year major league contract at $6.4 million.

[10] After playing several months with the Pirates High-A affiliate, Lynchburg Hillcats, Álvarez was assigned to Double-A Altoona Curve in late June.

[11] Álvarez started the 2010 season with the Pirates Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, as the 8th-best prospect in Baseball America's 2010 rankings.

[17] Álvarez continued his hot streak, going 4-for-5 with 5 RBIs on September 30 against the Florida Marlins while raising his season batting average 8 points from .249 to .257.

[23] For the season, he batted .244/.317/.467, was second in the National League with 180 strikeouts, and led all NL players with 27 errors at third base.

In Game 3 of the NLDS vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, Álvarez had the game-winning RBI in the 8th inning that gave the Pirates a 2–1 series lead.

As a result, Álvarez was removed from the everyday lineup and utility player Josh Harrison received the starting job at third base for an indefinite time period.

On August 18, Álvarez made his first Major League appearance at first base against the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park.

[25][26] The Pirates announced on September 10 that Alvarez had been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot stemming from an injury he sustained in-game on August 26.

[27] He missed the remainder of the regular season, and was left off of the Wild Card Game roster against the San Francisco Giants.

[39] Álvarez now serves at Horace Mann School, his alma mater, as first Director of Wellness, in the Athletics Department.