This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos' Athletics Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The Athletics have a towering 6-foot-6 right-hander in their bullpen who is tormenting hitters with a triple-digit fastball and a wipeout slider.
No, Mason Miller isn’t back with the A’s. We’re talking about Elvis Alvarado, who has opened some eyes with his pure dominance over the past couple of weeks. Since getting recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on June 5, Alvarado has been nearly flawless across four appearances, retiring 17 of his 18 batters faced and racking up 11 strikeouts with no walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Of course, it’s far too early to lump Alvarado into the same category as Miller, arguably the top closer in all of baseball. But given the impressive display we’ve seen from Alvarado in the late innings over the past week, you can’t help but think back to the former A’s flamethrower.
“His last few outings, he looked like a dominant, late-inning closer,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said of Alvarado. “I know we’re not defining anybody as the closer yet, but it’s good to see a guy come in the ninth inning and do what he’s done as well.”
While offense was the starring attraction during the A’s special six-game homestand at Las Vegas Ballpark last week, Alvarado was an impressive subplot. He recorded a hold and two saves against the Brewers and Rockies, making life miserable for hitters each time out. Against the Rockies in Saturday night’s 7-5 win, Alvarado slammed the door in the ninth, showing off a fastball that maxed out at 102.7 mph and a sweeping slider in the high 80s to generate a good variance of speeds.
This is a vastly different version of Alvarado from the one we saw earlier in the season, when he posted an 8.38 ERA through 10 appearances before getting optioned to Triple-A on April 18. That raises the question: What has changed?
Throwing more strikes
Pounding the zone can be difficult at times with hard-throwing pitchers like Alvarado. We saw that in his Major League stint earlier this year. Since coming up a second time, though, Alvarado entered Monday’s series opener against the Pirates having thrown 72 of his 97 pitches for strikes, or 74.2%.
It’s not just the four-seamer Alvarado is locating. He’s also getting ahead in the count with his slider and sinker. That slider, in particular, and his ability to land it for a strike in any count is what has enhanced his overall arsenal.
“He’s put in the work,” Emerson said. “We needed him to throw a little bit more bullpens for practice to get the breaking ball going. What I’ve seen since his return has been the ability to land something other than his fastball for a strike. Now, all of a sudden, the 100 mph fastball plays even better because [hitters] have to think of something else. When he can throw two or three pitches for a strike at different speeds, it’s a separator.”
We’ve seen Alvarado get off to a slow start, go down to Triple-A then come up and have success before. Last year, he made four appearances for the A’s and posted a 7.50 ERA before getting sent to the Minors. Called back up in late June, Alvarado posted a 2.48 ERA over his final 33 appearances with 42 strikeouts over 36 1/3 innings.
In Emerson’s eyes, this version of Alvarado is even better.
“Because of the offspeed pitches he’s able to throw for strikes,” Emerson said. “Also, when you get up to 100-103 [mph], that’s a different fastball as well. At some point in time, maybe he saw the light, like, ‘Hey, this is my fourth or fifth organization, let’s stick around and be that sustainable reliever.’ I hope he can do that.”
What does this mean for the bullpen?
We’re still in the small sample size phase with Alvarado. But if he can sustain the form he has shown over the past week, he could completely transform an A’s bullpen that has struggled in the late innings at times by bringing some stability.
“I always think it’s good that you have a role as closer,” Emerson said. “But I also know that when we weren’t winning games with Mason Miller as closer and you’re leaving your best arm in the bullpen for a long time, we have to keep games close as well.
“Knowing the ability of [Alvarado] to go two innings is huge. He can go eighth and ninth. There could be a leverage situation where we depend on him more in the eighth, or maybe even the seventh.”