Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Alvarez hoping to crack bullpen
JUPITER — From the time he was a baby, R.J. Alvarez has been a Marlins lifer.
Just one years old, Alvarez was in Joe Robbie Stadium on Apr. 5, 1993 — the day the Marlins brought baseball to South Florida and played their inaugural game.
“I had the ticket over my bed my whole life,” said Alvarez, who sat on his dad’s lap during the Marlins’ 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
His love for the team blossomed in high school as the Cardinal Newman alum would make frequent trips down the Turnpike with his friends to see former aces like Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett pitch in teal and white.
“You could get in during the week, just roll down there and watch a game on a Thursday night — get some good seats, be able to sneak up to the front a little bit,” Alvarez said. “Back then, even now, some of the young guys that were rolling through the system at the time — you’re watching some future superstars.”
Twenty six years after Miami’s inaugural game, Alvarez is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the players he watched that day. The right-handed pitcher signed a minor league contract with Miami in the offseason and is hoping to crack the Marlins bullpen as a nonroster invite.
Signing with the Marlins is a homecoming for the reliever, who in addition to growing up in Palm Beach County, also starred at FAU as the team’s closer. After bouncing around the past five seasons, Alvarez was ecstatic when the Marlins came calling.
“It was a dream come true to be able to stay at home,” Alvarez said. “All my friends and family — everyone I know, lives here.
“Palm Beach County has always been my home. I’ve done pretty much everything here until I first got drafted. Ever since then, I feel I’ve never been home. I’ve been out with five different organizations — all in Arizona for Spring Training.”
A third-round pick by the Angels in 2012, Alvarez reached the majors two years later, playing in 31 games with the Padres and A’s over the next two seasons. After posting a 7.31 ERA in 28 innings, the reliever has spent the past three seasons in the minors trying to make his way back to the majors.
His ERA has dropped in each of the past three seasons, with Alvarez notching a 3.68 mark and 24 saves for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate last season.
With the Marlins holding spring training in Jupiter, Alvarez’s commute suddenly becomes much more favorable. The reliever, who lives locally in the offseason, bought a place in North Palm Beach a few years back, but had previously been forced to migrate west for camp.
“Every spring training, it would kill me [not being here],” Alvarez said. “My buddies would be like, ‘Hey, I signed with the Cardinals, the Marlins, the Astros or whatever, Can I live at your house?’ I was like, ‘I’ve got to go to Arizona, see ya.”
“Growing up spring training was such a huge part of my life — coming with my family to watch the Marlins and Cardinals.
So far, Alvarez has made two appearances for Miami — to differing results. In his first game against the Cardinals, he was dinged for five earned runs in 2⁄3 of an inning. He was much sharper in his second outing, tossing a scoreless inning versus Houston.
Alvarez is hoping to build on last year’s Triple-A season in Round Rock where he served as the team’s closer.
“[Being with the Marlins] — it’s an honor to play here at some point in my career.”