Following eight seasons in minors, 29-year-old Armando Alvarez earns first call-up

After spending most of the last five seasons in Triple-A, infielder Armando Alvarez finally got his call to the show

OAKLAND — Armado Alvarez couldn’t sleep much last night. By his estimation, he only logged about three-and-a-half hours. His parents? They couldn’t sleep at all. The family’s collective restlessness was warranted.

Alvarez was going to the show.

Following eight seasons in the minor leagues — the last five of which were spent in Triple-A — the 29-year-old Alvarez earned his first major-league call-up on Saturday, a moment Alvarez had been waiting for since he attended his first Marlins game at three-years-old.

“(My mom) thought I was kidding,” Alvarez, an infielder, said. “So did my dad. They were just so excited, so happy.”

In a corresponding move, infielder Abraham Toro was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.

Alvarez learned of the news during Triple-A Las Vegas’ game on Friday night in Tacoma. As Alvarez prepared for his eighth-inning plate appearance, Las Vegas manager Fran Riordan told Alvarez that he wasn’t hitting. The substitution confused Alvarez. Not only did Alvarez, a right-handed batter, already have two hits, but Tacoma had a left-handed pitcher on the mound.

Upon learning the rationale, Alvarez’s confusion turned to joy.

“The manager said, ‘Hey, you’re not hitting,’” Alvarez said. “I was confused because it was a lefty throwing, so I thought, for sure, I was going to face him. He goes, ‘No, you’re going to the big leagues.’ I was like, ‘That works too.’”

Alvarez immediately tried to phone his mother, Carrie, and father, Armando Alvarez III, but his parents didn’t initially answer. While  Alvarez was in the Pacific Northwest, his parents were back home in Miami, where the local time was about 1:30 a.m. Alvarez eventually got on a FaceTime call with his parents and his sister, Carrie, and broke the news. Alvarez plans to have several cousins in attendance for Saturday’s game, but his parents won’t arrive until the evening due to flight delays.

“Just a surreal moment to be able to share that with them,” Alvarez said.

It’s a moment that’s long been in the making. Alvarez was drafted by the Yankees in the 17th round of the 2016 MLB Draft as a 21-year-old out of Eastern Kentucky University. By 2019, Alvarez worked his way up to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but from there, Alvarez’s progress stalled.

Following the canceled minor-league season in 2020, Alvarez remained stuck with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate over the next two seasons. In November 2022, Alvarez elected free agency and signed a minor-league contract with the Giants. Despite hitting well for Triple-A Sacramento (.960 OPS), Alvarez never got the call to San Francisco. He, again, elected free agency.

This past November, Alvarez signed a minor-league deal with the A’s, his third team in the last three years. Alvarez had an impressive .936 OPS during spring training, and that hot hitting carried into the regular season. In 47 games with Triple-A Las Vegas, Alvarez posted a .311 batting average and .929 OPS with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. With Toro hitting the injured list, Alvarez finally got the news he’d long been waiting to hear. When asked what kept him going throughout the years, Alvarez credited his internal belief in himself.

“I would never quit on myself,” Alvarez said. “I would never.”

Alvarez’s family has a bit of a baseball history. His father played in college while his cousin, Luis Pardo, was drafted in 2007 by the Astros, but didn’t advance past Double-A. Alvarez, then, becomes the first person in his family to arrive at this level.

“That means everything,” Alvarez said.

Newcomb talks earning win … without throwing pitch

Left-hander Sean Newcomb made an interesting bit of history in Friday’s 6-5 win, becoming the first A’s pitcher to record a win without facing a single batter.

“I had no idea, really, where it stood as far as how many times it happened,” Newcomb said.

Newcomb became the 27th pitcher to accomplish the feat since 1901 and the first since Tony Watson did so for the Giants on Aug. 30, 2020. The left-hander immediately had a feeling that he’d accomplished something unique, but didn’t know the specifics until he checked Instagram this morning.

With the A’s trailing, 5-4, Newcomb entered the eighth inning with two outs runners on first and third. The left-hander threw two pitches to the Twins’ Willi Castro before picking off Austin Martin to end the inning.

“When I got out of the inning, then realizing Mason (Miller) would go in if we took the lead or tied, I kind of realized, ‘I didn’t even get anybody out and I might be in line for the win here,'” Newcomb said. “That was crazy.”

In the bottom of the inning, Shea Langeliers hit a two-run home run to give the A’s the one-run lead, putting Newcomb in line for the win. When Miller secured the save with a clean ninth inning, Newcomb logged the 28th win of his career — and by far the most unique.