Orioles designate Alvarez for assignment

The Baltimore Orioles designated veteran Pedro Alvarez for assignment on Tuesday, the team announced.

Alvarez was batting just .180 with eight homers and 18 RBIs in 45 games. The Orioles have seven days to trade or release the 31-year-old.

Baltimore also recalled catcher Caleb Joseph and infielder Steve Wilkerson from Triple-A Norfolk.

Joseph batted .182 in 24 games for the Orioles earlier this season.

Wilkerson is on a major league roster for the first time. He was batting .290 with three homers and nine RBIs in 16 games at Norfolk. Wilkerson was suspended for the first 50 games of the season after testing positive for amphetamine.

Baltimore previously optioned catcher Chance Sisco to Norfolk, so the roster is back to 25 after Tuesday's transactions.

Alvarez led the National League with 36 homers in 2013 when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is a .236 career hitter with 162 homers and 472 RBIs in parts of nine seasons with the Pirates (2010-15) and Orioles (2016-18).

--Field Level Media