Late-Round Pick Is Making His Mark

Outfielder Nicolas Alvarez wasn’t drafted until the 26th round in June, but he already has shown considerable promise with the Dodgers’ short-season Class-A Yakima team this season.

Alvarez, who attended St. Thomas University in Miami, had home runs in three consecutive games recently, including a grand slam. During a recent 10-game hitting streak, Alvarez drove in 16 runs in four games.

Alvarez has raised his batting average to .337. He has seven home runs and 27 runs batted in after 27 games.

The Dodgers have signed former major league outfielder Curtis Pride to a minor league contract and assigned him to triple-A Albuquerque. Pride has spent parts of five seasons in the majors with Montreal, Detroit, Boston and Atlanta. He hit his first home run for the Dukes Monday and is batting .276 with two home runs and five RBIs after eight games.

Maximo Nunez, a pitcher for double-A San Antonio, is also helping with his bat. In a recent victory over Arkansas, Nunez gave up only three hits and struck out five in five innings. He also went two for three and hit a grand slam in the third inning. Nunez is 2-3 with a 5.43 earned-run average.

Vero Beach shortstop Jorge Nunez, acquired by the Dodgers along with Shawn Green from Toronto last November, has been showing off his speed with 37 steals. Nunez has had a success rate of 81% on steals in six minor league seasons. He is batting .284.