Pittsburgh's top prospect Pedro Alvarez hopes to make his big league debut this season. "Of course, you know. Every day," said Alvarez. "It's just hopefully that one day [is] getting sooner and sooner. "I'm not saying that I need to be up here this year. If it just so happens that I get the opportunity this year, then I'm going to gratefully accept it. If it's later on, then I just know that I have to keep working hard so I can get the opportunity to maybe make it up to Pittsburgh." Alvarez trained in Arizona over the winter and reported to Spring Training with less weight. "Definitely came in different than what I did last year," said Alvarez, 23, who became overweight due to tendinitis in the months preceding 2009 spring training. "I feel a lot better. "Baseball shape is baseball shape. That stuff takes its time. Will I get in baseball shape quicker because of the conditioning I did? Possibly. I'm still trying to learn things. This will be my second year in pro ball. The learning curve is still on my side. I'm just trying to establish a routine for next year, and now I know what I'm going to do next year. Every day I learn a little bit more and more."