Latest News Steven Okert
Outlook Elvis Alvarado
Alvarado Rises to High-Leverage Prominence in Athletics Bullpen
Elvis Alvarado has been lights-out since his early June call-up, delivering a microscopic 0.55 WHIP and registering 13 strikeouts over his last 7.3 innings of work. Following the injury to setup man Mark Leiter Jr., Alvarado has established himself in a high-leverage role for the second-place Athletics (38-40), who sit just 1.5 games behind Seattle in the AL West division race.
While his recent 3.70 ERA over the past two weeks is a massive step forward, our models expect some regression toward his projected season-long 4.27 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. Still, his spectacular 16.03 K/9 rate over this recent hot stretch is backed by an impressive SwStr% that suggests his swing-and-miss ability is legitimate.
The Athletics travel for a six-game road trip against San Francisco and Los Angeles this week, providing ample late-inning opportunities for Alvarado to grab holds or vulture wins against beatable lineups. Our weekly projection expects him to compile 3.1 innings of work, striking out 5.1 batters while maintaining an excellent 3.24 ERA and 0.66 WHIP. Verdict: Start.
Updated 2 days ago
