Top Angels pitching prospect R.J. Alvarez sidelined by elbow injury

Reliever R.J. Alvarez, one of the Angels’ top pitching prospects, was placed on the seven-day disabled list because of elbow tenderness and returned to Anaheim for a precautionary evaluation and an MRI test, General Manager Jerry Dipoto said Wednesday.

Alvarez, who combines a fastball that sits in the 97-mph range and occasionally touches 100 mph with a power slider, has not given up a run in 19 innings at double-A Arkansas this season, striking out 28 and walking five.

“He’s always had dominant, swing-and-miss stuff,” Dipoto said this month. “Now he’s combining that with better strike throwing.”

Alvarez, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander who was a third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic University in 2012, appears to be on the fast track to the big leagues. Dipoto said that Alvarez and fellow double-A reliever Cam Bedrosian, both 22, could pitch in the big leagues this season.

“Once you get to double A and you’re doing what they’re doing, you’re a phone call away,” Dipoto said. “They’re doing it against high-level professional hitters. I feel like both can help sooner rather than later.”