Wilson Alvarez
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Wilson Eduardo Alvarez (born March 24, 1970 in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who has played in 13 seasons for the Texas Rangers (1989), Chicago White Sox (1991-97), San Francisco Giants (1997), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2002) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2003-present).
No one connected with the White Sox will ever forget Alvarez's debut on August 11, 1991. Acquired from the Rangers two years before, Alvarez provided one of the biggest highlights in the Chicago season by pitching a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium, only his second major league start. It was quite a contrast from his debut for Texas in which he faced five batters and gave up two base on balls, a single and two home runs without retiring a man.
Alvarez had control problems in the minors, and it carried over to the big leagues. After shouldering a very heavy workload in 1991, the prized prospect was kept under scrutiny for most of the 1992 season. Between the majors, minors and winter league action, Alvarez worked close to 300 innings in '91; a significant number for anyone, but especially for a 21-years old pitcher. But it wasn't until 1993 that he managed to break into the rotation permanently. That season, Alvarez won 15 games but led the league with 122 walks.
In 1994 Alvarez went 12-8 and made the American League All-Star team. After a disappointing 8-11 in 1995, he had 15 wins and 181 strikeouts in 1996. He was sent to the Giants in 1997 as part of a 10-players mega-deal. A free agent after the season, he signed a five-year contract with Tampa Bay.
The inconsistency and poor conditioning continually kept the talented lefty from realizing his notorious potential. In his first season with the Devil Rays, Alvarez missed two months with tendinitis in his shoulder while losing 14 games. The following year he made two trips to the disabled list. Finally, he got arthroscopic shoulder surgery and missed the next two seasons. After finishing his contract with Tampa Bay, Alvarez signed with the Dodgers. He began the 2003 season as a starter for the Triple-A Las Vegas. After going 5-1 with a 1.15 ERA, he filled the long relief role for the Dodgers at the mid-season. Later he got a chance to start, collecting 5-0 and 1.06 over a stretch of nine games. In 2004 he went 7-6 in 40 games (15 as a starter).
Alvarez has compiled a career 101-88 record with 1281 strikeouts and a 3.94 ERA in 1723.2 innings.
At 35, Alvarez remains dominating, though his fastball hasn't returned to its previous 93-95 MPH range, he is not afraid to come inside with it. He has two other pitches, both of which have good downward movement. He gets righthanders out with a turnover changeup and gets the lefties with an excellent curveball. Control and command will dictate his role in the future.
Highlights
- No-hitter (1991)
- All-Star (1994)
- 15-game winning streak (1994)
- Tied an MLB record with four strikeouts in the same inning (1999)
See also
External links
- Template:Baseball-reference
- ESPN profile (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4364)