Alvarez (shoulder) will pitch five or six innings in his rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Nashville and he could potentially join the A's rotation next week, MLB.com's Jane Lee reports.

EDGE Analysis

It has been a long road back from a shoulder injury for Alvarez, who gave up three runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings for High-A Stockton on Monday. Alvarez has not been a quality big league starter since 2014, and even then he was only missing bats at a 14.4 percent clip. If everything goes well Saturday he would be in line to jump into the A's rotation next Friday in Anaheim, replacing Zach Neal.