| Armando Alvarez | |
| Team: | Oakland Athletics |
| Number: | 50 |
| Position: | Infielder |
| Birth Date: | 14 July 1994 |
| Birth Place: | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | June 22 |
| Debutyear: | 2024 |
| Debutteam: | Oakland Athletics |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | August 15, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .276 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 0 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 2 |
| Teams: |
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Armando Francisco Alvarez (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.
Alvarez attended Miami Killian Senior High School in Kendall, Florida.[1] He enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University and played college baseball for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.
The New York Yankees selected Alvarez in the 17th round, with the 518th overall selection, of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.[2] He split his first professional season between the Low–A Staten Island Yankees and Single–A Charleston RiverDogs, hitting .288 with five home runs and 40 RBI in 66 games.[3] Alvarez split 2017 between Charleston and the High–A Tampa Yankees, playing in 76 games and slashing .243/.277/.299 with no home runs and 21 RBI.[4]
In 2018, he played with Tampa and the Double–A Trenton Thunder. In 108 games between the two affiliates, Alvarez accumulated a .257/.314/.438 batting line with 13 home runs and 56 RBI.[5] In 2019, he played in 124 games split between Trenton and the Triple–A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, batting .270/.325/.417 with 11 home runs and 76 RBI. Alvarez did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
Alvarez returned to action in 2021 with Scranton, making 106 appearances and slashing .236/.304/.389 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI.[7] He played a third year in Scranton in 2022, hitting .278/.319/.525 with a career–high 18 home runs and 55 RBI. Alvarez elected free agency following the season on November 10, 2022.[8]
On December 10, 2022, Alvarez signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants.[9] He spent the 2023 campaign with the Triple–A Sacramento River Cats, also appearing in eight rehab games for the rookie–level Arizona Complex League Giants. In 74 games for Sacramento, Alvarez slashed .308/.379/.581 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI.[10] He elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2023.[11]
On November 16, 2023, Alvarez signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics.[12] He began the 2024 season with the Triple–A Las Vegas Aviators. On June 22, 2024, Alvarez was selected to the 40-man roster and was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[13] He made his major league debut that day against the Minnesota Twins, grounding out against Bailey Ober.[14] The next day, Alvarez collected his first major league hit as part of a 3–for–4, one RBI night against the Los Angeles Angels.[15]