Abraham Alvarez (born October 17, 1982) is an American baseball coach and former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, who is the pitching coach for the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the West ...

. Alvarez played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Long Beach State University California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

from 2001 to 2003 for head coaches

Dave Snow David Snow is a former American college baseball coach. He served as head coach of the Loyola Marymount Lions baseball team, leading them to the 1986 College World Series and later as the head coach of the Long Beach State 49ers baseball team, wh ...

and Mike Weathers and professionally in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Alvarez has been legally blind in his left eye since infancy.

College career

Alvarez, who is of Mexican American descent, attended

, where he posted a 23–5 record with a 2.56

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in three seasons. As a junior in , he was named an All-American by ''

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'' after going 11–2 with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts. He returned to Long Beach State in 2010 to complete a bachelor's degree in history and served as the undergraduate assistant pitching coach for the university's baseball team.

Minor league career

Signed by the

in 2003 after being drafted 49th overall, Alvarez made his professional debut with the short-season Single-A

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major League ...

. He posted no record and did not allow an earned run in 19.0 innings over nine starts,

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

19 and walked just two hitters. He limited opponents to a .138

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and did not walk a batter in his first six starts.

2004

In , Alvarez was named Pitcher of the Year for Double-A

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

after going 10–9 with a 3.59 ERA in 26 starts in his first full pro season. He limited opposite hitters to a .252 average, posted a 3.4

strikeout-to-walk ratio In baseball statistics, strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) is a measure of a pitcher's ability to control pitches, calculated as strikeouts divided by bases on balls. A hit by pitch is not counted statistically as a walk, and therefore not counted ...

(108-to-32), and was also named to the Eastern League's mid-season ''All-Star'' team.

2005

In , Alvarez started 26 games for the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

. He finished the year with a record of 11–6 and a 4.85 ERA. The left-hander surrendered 143 hits over 144.2 IP. He struck out 109 batters and walked 32.

2006

In , Alvarez started 21 games for Triple-A Pawtucket. He had a losing record of 6–9 and a 5.64 ERA. He struck out 71 and walked 40 in 118 IP; he gave up 136 hits and 74 earned runs. His season was cut short by an ankle injury sustained off-field. Alvarez had surgery on the ankle on August 18, 2006, but was fully recovered by

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

2008

On May 12, 2008, Alvarez was released by the Red Sox. In June 2008, he signed with the

Camden Riversharks The Camden Riversharks were an American professional baseball team based in Camden, New Jersey, from 2001 to 2015. They were a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not at that time affiliat ...

of the independent Atlantic League, but was traded to the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

for

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Jamal Strong Jamal Najar Strong (born August 5, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Strong was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 6th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. Strong made his major league debut in and was called up a ...

on June 6. On January 21, , Alvarez signed with the Palfinger Reggio Emilia of Italy's Serie A1.

Major league career

2004

The Red Sox summoned Alvarez on July 22, 2004 from Double-A Portland when a spot starter was needed for a doubleheader against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. Alvarez allowed five runs on eight

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, two

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, and five walks over 5.0

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of an 8–3 loss. He was sent back to the minors after the game. He was the youngest member of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

champion 2004 Red Sox to receive a ring.

2005

On July 2, 2005 Boston placed

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

Matt Mantei Matthew Bruce Mantei AN-tie(born July 7, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. In his career, Mantei played with the Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox. He batted and threw right-handed. Career M ...

on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with a left ankle ligament sprain and recalled Alvarez from Triple-A

. At the time of promotion, Alvarez was 7–3 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 starts for the PawSox, including wins in five of his past six decisions. He was expected to work out of Boston's

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

, but was sent to Pawtucket the next day. Boston designated

Mike Remlinger Michael John Remlinger (born March 23, 1966) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. Remlinger has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the San Francisco Giants (1991), New York Mets (1994–95), Cincinnati Reds (1995– ...

for assignment and recalled Alvarez on August 28, 2005. He pitched two games in relief, pitched 2.1 innings, and gave up four runs. He was sent down on August 30.

2006

On May 19, 2006 Boston placed reliever Mike Holtz was placed on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Alvarez from Pawtucket. Alvarez pitched in relief on May 21, 2006. In three innings, he gave up five hits, four runs (all earned), two walks and he struck out two. He was optioned to Pawtucket the next day after

David Riske David Richard Riske ( ; born October 23, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Career Riske was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 56th round of the June amateur draft. In January , he was traded along with outfielder C ...

came off the 15-day DL.

Post-playing career

In 2010, after Alvarez retired from professional baseball, he returned to Long Beach State, where he worked toward a bachelor's degree in history and worked as an undergraduate assistant pitching coach. Alvarez was pitching coach at Cerritos High School and was the head coach at St. Bernard High School, which has won a share of the 2018 Santa Fe League championship. Alvarez in 2012 graduated from Long Beach State with a history degree. On July 19, 2022, he was named the pitching coach of the

References

External links

, o
MiLB News – FAB50 2005 Ones-2-Watch : Interview and Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Abe 1982 births Living people American baseball players of Mexican descent Boston Red Sox players Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes baseball players Camden Riversharks players Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball players Long Island Ducks players Lowell Spinners players Major League Baseball pitchers Palfinger Reggio Emilia players Pawtucket Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Baseball players from Los Angeles Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball coaches Nevada Wolf Pack baseball coaches Baseball coaches from California American expatriate baseball players in Italy BYU Cougars baseball coaches Mat-Su Miners players Sportspeople with a vision impairment American disabled sportspeople Baseball players with disabilities