Senior pitcher Luis Alvarado was tabbed as a second-team Preseason All-American on Monday by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
The right-hander from Puerto Rico made 16 appearances on the mound and earned a team-high ten saves for the Huskers out of the bullpen in 2017 after not pitching during his first two seasons at Nebraska.
“I think it’s safe to say (Luis’) future is on the mound,” head coach Darin Erstad said back in September during fall practice. “So, why not put him out there a little more? So, we’ll see how that goes.”
Alvarado compiled a 1.72 ERA while striking out 15 batters in 15.2 innings last season. He went 7-for-7 in save chances during conference play to help the Huskers capture the Big Ten regular season championship.
It was Nebraska’s first conference title since 2005.
Over the summer, Alvarado played for the Cape Cod League’s Bourne Braves, compiling 19.2 innings, 18 strikeouts, and a 0.91 ERA as a long reliever.
The longest he went in any appearance at Nebraska last year was 1.1 innings.
“Last year, the most I had was four outs,” Alvarado said in fall. “This summer, I was pitching three or four innings. So, I think I have a pretty good feeling about it, but I think it’ll still be a little bit different when you start facing the whole lineup twice or three times, you know, that’s when it’s going to get interesting.”
Offensively, Alvarado started 57 games and batted .283 with 64 hits, 12 doubles, two home runs, and 25 RBIs.
He enters his senior year with a career batting average of .275. Alvarado is a two-time MLB Draft selection, most recently being picked in the 13th round by the Seattle Mariners in 2017. He was a 33rd round pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2014.
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