Hearing from Alvarez, Roe, Clevenger and Hardy before tonight's game

ARLINGTON, Texas - Dariel Alvarez will become the 1,004th player tonight to appear in a game with the Orioles since 1954 when he takes his position in right field.

Alvarez, using coach Einar Diaz as an interpreter, said he learned of his promotion to the majors two days ago.

"I was so happy I didn't know what to say," said Alvarez, who replaced another Cuban-born outfielder, Henry Urrutia, on the 25-man roster.

"It was tough early in the season. I never stopped working, got help from all the coaches over there (at Norfolk) and it was a good thing I never gave up. Now I'm here.

"It was tough early in the season, but after that I started working with (hitting coach) Sean Berry in the cage, and we started talking about having better discipline at the plate. And swing at good pitches, and that's what I did. I got better pitches and my numbers went up."

Alvarez defected from Cuba in 2012 and signed an $800,000 bonus with the Orioles the following year. Now, he's in the majors and facing Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels.

"It's a dream come true," he said. "I'm so happy, I thank my family and this organization. I'm so happy right now, I can't believe it."

Urrutia and Alvarez were roommates at Norfolk. Urrutia has worked with Alvarez to improve his English and get acclimated to life in the U.S.

"There was room in Norfolk and when they called him to the big leagues, I was so happy for him," Alvarez said. "That motivated me to work hard and come here. We always talk about that. I was really happy for him."

Reliever Chaz Roe will pitch for Double-A Bowie on Monday and come off the disabled list two days later. He pitched in a simulated game today at Globe Life Park, facing Steve Clevenger and Jimmy Paredes.

"Threw all my pitches. Threw about 25 pitches. Everything felt good," he said.

"The slider is back to normal and the sinker had good depth on it."

Roe wanted to avoid going on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis but now agrees that it was the right move.

"Absolutely," he said. "At first you know I was kind of skeptical of doing it, but everything started feeling good. Everything is back to normal. And it definitely is a good thing for me."

Clevenger left the team after Monday's game in Kansas City to be with his wife, Tiffany, who gave birth to daughter Peyton Lee the following day.

"It's been an exciting time," he said. "I'm very happy, but I'm also excited to get back to the team.

"It's been awesome. My family's very happy. I'm just glad everything went well. The doctors did a great job and the nurses are taking great care of them. She's healthy and my wife is doing great and they're going to be home tomorrow."

Clevenger finally caught up on his sleep last night.

"First two nights, I didn't get any sleep at all, but that's OK. As expected," he said. "As long as she's healthy and my wife is doing well, that's all that matters."

Clevenger has been able to swing a bat this week despite becoming a father.

"I've been going down to Camden Yards while I was in Maryland," he said. "I live right around the corner, so it's good. I get to stop in there for a couple minutes and take some swings, so I've been active the last couple days. But it's good to get out there and take some swings off Chaz."

Clevenger would leave Harbor Hospital and race to the ballpark.

"I would go there around noon and take some swings off the machine and come right back," he said, "so it's good."

J.J. Hardy is in Arlington to receive treatments for his strained left groin "and try to get this thing right and come off (the disabled list) as soon as possible," he said.

Hardy expects to be activated when eligible on Sept. 8.

"I think so," he said. "It's hard to say until I can test it and try to run around, but I would think so."

Hardy received a platelet-rich plasma injection on Wednesday, limiting his activities for a few days.

"I don't know how much shut down. Kind of take it easy a little bit," he said. "I'm going to go out there and play catch and move around a little bit, not too much."

Hardy hopes to remain with the club to receive his treatments and work out. He hasn't been told about a possible rehab assignment.

The plan calls for Hardy to engage in light baseball activities through the weekend.

"I don't know exactly what," he said. "I mean, we're going to try and loosen it up. It's really tight. Not test it too much and go from there."

The biggest test comes when Hardy attempts to run and swing a bat.

"Anything that kind of involves pulling your leg in is what was affecting it," he said, "so running and swinging, stuff like that, I think will be the ultimate test."

Hardy tried to play through the discomfort before going on the disabled list.

"At that point, it was more for the team," he said. "I wasn't going to be able to help the team that much. It's kind of what everyone was thinking. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but I think it was definitely necessary."

Tyler Wilson, on the minor league disabled list with a strained left oblique, threw 48 pitches yesterday in a bullpen session in Gwinnett. He's slated to throw 70 pitches on Saturday in another side session.

Mike Wright, in a rehab start with Norfolk yesterday, allowed one earned run and two hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out one.

Wright, on the disabled list with a strained left calf, will make another start with Norfolk.