Elvis Alvarado throws hidden no-hitter...and gets hurt doing it

[Ely Sussman]

Spread out over nine relief appearances, the Triple-A Jacksonville right-hander recorded 27 consecutive outs without allowing a hit. It could be a while until he pitches again, unfortunately.

This was supposed to be a classic hype article about a red-hot Miami Marlins minor leaguer, an introduction to Elvis Alvarado for the many readers out there who have never even heard of the guy. Given Alvarado's recent success at the highest level of the minors, it was only natural to ask how close he might be to receiving his first career call-up.

Alas, injuries suck, and the timing of Alvarado's was particularly cruel.

Last week, I had taken notice of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp reliever's extended hitless streak. He had not allowed a hit dating back to April 27, spanning 8 ⅔ consecutive innings. I tuned into Jacksonville's MiLB.TV broadcast on Tuesday night to see if he could record the final out to complete a "hidden no-hitter."

Alvarado did it in the top of the seventh, painting a 99 mph sinker on the outside corner for a called third strike. Watch the whole faux no-no for yourself.

However, watch until the very end and you can clearly see Alvarado reach for his right hamstring following the strikeout. (If I saw that from 1,000 miles away, how come the Jumbo Shrimp staff couldn't?) He continued pitching, facing three more batters—groundout, walk, groundout—to complete the inning.

Then, the Shrimp sent Alvarado back out there for the eighth inning. He induced a pop out, he issued a walk, and then after delivering his first pitch to the next batter, he hobbled off the mound in pain. That ended the 25-year-old's outing and he walked gingerly to the dugout.

Alvarado's hitless streak is now at 10 innings, but who knows how long it'll be before he has a chance to add to it.

 

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The streak on its own is not all that meaningful (Devin Smeltzer had a similar one for Jacksonville last season). Context is everything.

Alvarado faced 34 batters to get through the first nine innings, striking out half of them, the vast majority on the strength of his sizzling fastball which accounts for 78% of his pitch usage. His average fastball velocity is 97.2 mph, which is higher than anybody on the Marlins major league pitching staff this season. He has thrown 13 pitches at or above 100.0 mph; meanwhile, no member of the 2024 Marlins has touched that mark.

Watching every out of the streak, Alvarado didn't need much help from his defense. The balls put into play against him were largely uneventful, with the exception of a 105 mph lineout to second baseman Cristhian Rodriguez on May 12.

Signed as a minor league free agent in January, Alvarado did not have any prior experience above the Double-A level. His transition to Triple-A was understandably turbulent. This hitless streak actually began on the same day that he was pecked hard by the Memphis Redbirds (1.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). He finished April with a 10.00 ERA, 7.56 FIP and more walks than strikeouts.

In an attempt to improve his control, the Jacksonville coaching staff convinced Alvarado to "simplify" his delivery, per Jumbo Shrimp broadcaster Scott Kornberg. Based on my video review, he's been using the new delivery since April 25. Although his walk rate remains high, he's now getting ahead in the count more frequently, hence the big uptick in K's.

The Marlins bullpen has performed solidly in recent weeks and JT Chargois' imminent return from the injured list will only make it more crowded. Especially in the aftermath of Alvarado's injury, now is not the time to guesstimate when his opportunity could come.

I'm just saying, don't be fooled by the underwhelming overall numbers (4.82 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.61 WHIP in 18.2 IP). Alvarado is showing a lot of promise.

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