A’s general manager David Forst said Sunday that free agent pickup Henderson Alvarez won’t make his debut until May at the earliest as he comes back from shoulder surgery.
At the time of the surgery in July there had been some hope that Alvarez would be ready for Opening Day, but given that he’s also dealing with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow odds are May is pretty optimistic. He signed an incentive-laden one-year deal with the A’s in mid-December after being non-tendered by the Marlins and is guaranteed $4.25 million.
Prior to blowing out his shoulder Alvarez was a very effective ground-ball machine for Miami, making the All-Star team in 2014 on the way to logging 187 innings with a 2.65 ERA.