Alvarado nears return, may avoid rehab games 

OAKLAND -- Hoping to accelerate the return of reliever Jose Alvarado, Rays manager Kevin Cash said on Thursday that the club hopes to avoid including Minor League injury rehab games on the left-hander’s schedule as he strives to regain pitching shape.

Alvarado hasn’t pitched competitively since June 1. One day later, he left the team and was placed on the Family Medical Emergency List to address personal issues in his native Venezuela. Alvarado is ready to rejoin the Rays and looked sharp according to all observers as he threw a bullpen session on Thursday, according to Cash, at the organization’s Minor League complex in Port Charlotte, Fla.

Cash said that continuing to throw off bullpen mounds might suffice for Alvarado’s actvitity regimen. The skipper also mentioned the possibility of organizing a simulated game for him.

“Obviously, the quicker, the better,” Cash said. “We need him, and he would be a big boost for us when we get him back.”

For the Rays this season, Alvarado is 0-4 with a 3.09 ERA in 26 appearances with six saves in eight opportunities and 32 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings.