Left-hander Andrew Alvarez is heading back to the big leagues, first reported by Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. The 26-year-old pitched well in his first opportunity with the Nationals last season. Alvarez is taking the roster spot of right-hander Paxton Schultz, who was sent down on Saturday, the team announced.
The new management in Washington has made a habit of shuffling arms in the bullpen. Once Alvarez gets into the game, he’ll be the fifth reliever to make an appearance who wasn’t on the Opening Day roster. Schultz was coming off one of his most effective outings of the season. The righty tossed three innings of one-run ball in relief of a struggling Zack Littell on Friday. A season-high 48 pitches likely sealed Schultz’s fate.
Alvarez was first promoted in September of last season. He fired five scoreless innings against the Marlins to earn a win in his debut. It was the first of three scoreless outings for Alvarez, who finished with a 2.31 ERA across five starts. The lefty allowed just two earned runs over nine innings in MLB Spring Training, but opened the year at Triple-A. Alvarez has a 4.66 ERA through four games with Rochester.
While the strikeout and walk numbers were underwhelming, Alvarez got ground balls at an excellent 58.2% clip in his 23 1/3 innings with the Nats. He flashed a five-pitch mix, but relied primarily on a low-90s fastball and two breaking balls.
Alvarez last pitched on Tuesday, so he’s on regular rest today. That’s a notable scheduling note considering it’ll be Miles Mikolas handling the bulk of the innings for the Nats. The former Cardinal has been pounded for 20 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings. Washington has taken steps to adjust Mikolas’ workload. In his most recent outing, PJ Poulin opened the game. In the start before that, he tag-teamed with Brad Lord, with both pitchers covering three innings. Mark Zuckerman of Nats Journal reports that Poulin will open again today against the Giants.
Mikolas is on a cheap one-year, $2.25MM deal. It’s not out of the question that his rotation spot could devolve into an open competition. Mitchell Parker is already back on the big league roster after beginning the season at Triple-A. He made 30 starts with the club in 2025. Lord made 19 starts in a swingman role last year. Alvarez has been used exclusively as a starter for the past few seasons.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
