Carlos Alvarado

Giancarlo Carlos Alvarado Martinez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 210 lb.

• Born January 24, 1978 in Santurce Puerto Rico

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Carlos Alvarado has pitched in the minor leagues from 1995-2008 and parts of a couple years in Taiwan. He has peaked at AAA through 2008.

Alvarado was an undrafted free agent signed out of high school by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed 2 runs and 5 walks in 3 innings for the GCL Pirates in 1995. In 1996, Alvarado improved to 1-1, 4.94 in 11 games for the same club. In 1997, was one of the more effective starters for the Augusta GreenJackets (6-5, 3.27, almost a strikeout per inning). Alvarado split 1998 between Augusta (4-1, 3.60) and the Lynchburg Hillcats (3-5, 5.61).

The Puerto Rican right-hander was 4-6 with a 4.57 ERA for Lynchburg in 1999. In 2000, the 22-year-old pitched for Lynchburg (0-5, 4.20) and the Altoona Curve (3-0, Sv, 4.11). He was with the same two clubs in '01, going 5-7 with a 3.36 ERA for Altoona and throwing 4 games for the Hillcats. He went 2-2 with a 3.89 ERA for the Ponce Lions that winter in the Puerto Rican League.

After 7 years in the Pirates chain, Alvarado split 2002 between the Milwaukee Brewers' High Desert Mavericks (2-1, 3.00 in 17 games) and the independent San Angelo Colts (4-2, 3.09, 67 K in 46 IP). He fanned 29 in 15 innings in the playoffs and allowed 5 hits and one run to be named Central Baseball League playoff MVP.

In 2002-2003, Alvarado went 4-1 with 2 saves and a 3.05 ERA for Ponce. He was with the Detroit Tigers organization that year, throwing for the Erie SeaWolves (3-2, 3.14, .228 opponent average in 37 games) and Lakeland Tigers (3.68 ERA in 4 games, .185 average allowed). He had a 2-3, 3.76 record for Ponce in 2003-2004.

Alvarado pitched briefly for two Mexican League teams in 2004 (0-1) and was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA for the Macoto Cobras in Taiwan. In 2005, he returned to the independent leagues, pitching for the Lancaster Barnstormers (2-0, Sv, 2.28) and Newark Bears (2-2, 4.65) for a cumulative 3.78 ERA and 68 K in 64 innings.

Giancarlo was in the Cincinnati Reds system in 2006, appearing with the Sarasota Reds (1-1, 2 Sv, 1.17, .118 opponent average in 9 games), Chattanooga Lookouts (5-1, 3.28 in 31 games, .209 average, 58 K in 49 1/3 IP) and the Louisville Bats (0-1, 3.86 in 2 games). It was his first AAA experience in the USA, coming in his 12th season of pro ball.

Late in 2006, Alvarado pitched for Puerto Rico in the Americas Olympic Qualifier, allowing one run in 5 2/3 IP and striking out 14 to lead his team. He went 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA and 4 hits in 12 1/3 IP for the Gigantes de Carolina in the 2007 Caribbean Series.

In 2007, Alvarado was 7-1 with a 3.09 ERA for the Saltillo Saraperos in Mexico. He signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 2008 and was a member of the Salt Lake Bees AAA rotation for most of the season, going 7-5 with a 4.27 ERA. His 131 strikeouts were third in the Pacific Coast League behind Matt Palmer and Wade LeBlanc, impressive for a minor league journeyman with limited AAA experience.

Alvarado's performance with Salt Lake earned him a second look in Taiwan. The Uni-President Lions signed him late in the year and he was 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two regular season games for them. He lost games 3 and 6 in the 2008 Taiwan Series, but allowed only one run in 7 innings in game 6, being outdueled by Ryokan Kobayashi. The Lions won the Series anyhow. Alvarado had a big performance in game one of the 2008 Asia Series, coming out of the bullpen and working scoreless ball from the 4th to 8th innings. He played for Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Alvarado was 13-10 with a 3.49 ERA for the 2009 Albuquerque Isotopes, a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate. He signed with the Hiroshima Carp for 2010, with a salary of 31.5 million yen plus incentives. He debuted on March 27 as Hiroshima's #2 starter in the rotation. After five shutout innings, he gave up four runs to the Chunichi Dragons in the sixth and took the loss.

Alvarado became a pitching coach for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2018 and AZL Padres 1 in 2019. He did not return to affiliated ball after 2019. In 2023 Alvardo served as the pitching coach for the fledgling Criollos de Caguas in Puerto Rico's AA level Superior Baseball League.

Sources

• 1996-2008 Baseball Almanacs
• SABR minor league database
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• 2005 Baseball Guide
• Defunct IBAF site
• Wiki Baseball (in Chinese)
• Japanball.com