Sunday, February 10, 2013
Alvarez's WBC decision
By Jason Catania
After some confusion about whether he would participate in the World Baseball Classic for Team Venezuela next month, Henderson Alvarez has cleared things up.
The Miami Marlins hurler says he will, in fact, pitch for his native country in the event, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel.
As Rodriguez points out, Alvarez became more important to the team after staff ace Felix Hernandez pulled out to polish off negotiations on his massive extension with the Seattle Mariners. But as much as this helps the Venezuela club, will it hurt Alvarez? After all, the 22-year-old right-hander will have less opportunity to make an impression in camp with the Marlins, who acquired him this offseason as part of the monster, 12-player deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Thing is, because the Fish traded away so much of their roster this winter, Alvarez's spot in the five-man is all but assured, and a strong showing in the WBC could even help Alvarez, who was less-than-impressive in his first full season in the majors, in which he sported a 9-14 record and 4.85 ERA while striking out just 3.8 batters per nine innings.
