7:58 pm: The Dodgers have announced that Alvarez has had his contract selected, with Kevin Pillar being transferred to the 60-day IL in order to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. The Pillar move isn’t terribly shocking, as he was placed on the 10-day IL just yesterday due to a fractured left shoulder, with a months-long absence seeming like a possibility.
6:48 pm: The Dodgers are planning to select utilityman Eddy Alvarez onto the big league roster, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). Corner infielder Edwin Ríos is headed to the injured list after tearing his right hamstring during last night’s game.
Alvarez is going to the majors for the first time this season. He appeared in 36 games with the Marlins from 2020-21, hitting .188/.287/.287 through 115 plate appearances. That’s obviously not a great showing, but the right-handed hitter had a much more impressive .288/.423/.441 line in 31 games with the Fish’s Triple-A affiliate. Alvarez took some time off to suit up with the US national baseball team at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics. He was part of the Silver Medal-winning club, adding to a silver he’d won in 2014 at Sochi as a speed skater.
Los Angeles inked the 32-year-old to a minor league contract during the lockout. Alvarez has played the season at Triple-A Oklahoma City and mashed to the tune of a .304/.430/.500 clip. He’s walked in an excellent 13.4% of his plate appearances and hit five home runs while splitting time between both middle infield spots.
Ríos is hitting .244/.293/.500 through 92 plate appearances. He’s overcome a 38:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio by making a massive power impact, blasting seven home runs as a part-time player. Roberts indicated the tear won’t require surgical repair, but the left-handed hitter will miss some time recovering. It’ll be the second consecutive season with a notable injury for Ríos, who underwent shoulder surgery in May 2021 that ended his campaign 25 games in.
EDDY!
Great to see the Dodgers add a utility player to backup utility man Zack McKinistry, who is currently backing up utility man Hanser Alberto…
McKinistry is not the utility man kike or ct3 are. He’s a late inning replacement at best in a blowout game but has not shown enough consistency to play everyday.
McKinistry is not the utility man Enrique Hernandez or Chris Taylor are. He’s a late inning replacement at best in a blowout game but has not shown enough consistency to play everyday.
Proceeded to go yard today but yes you are 100% correct. Role player at best for Zach but has cult hero potential
His fights with Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier are legendary – best of luck in baseball!
To quote Shecky Greene’s History of the World Part I Roman Empire character’s response to a suggestion that Gregory Hines’ character have a living snake shoved up his ass: “No, but very creative!”
Eddie Alvarez has not medaled in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, but Eddy Alvarez has.
Wow. I missed the news of Pillar’s injury.
Tough break for Edwin Rios. I feel like this guy could be an everyday player if he could get his health right and get some consistent playing time.
is Jake Lamb floundering in the minors? thought he would make the team out of ST.
No, he’s doing fine. Alvarez is performing somewhat better. We’ll probably see Lamb at some point in the season, the way things are going.
That’s a complete athlete, no doubt….
Will ALWAYS root for Eddy! He only need a larger look, but he is a great athlete!