Wednesday's win in Atlanta was a big one for the Philadelphia Phillies. After wasting a Zack Wheeler start with some less-than-savory fielding, Taijuan Walker shut down the Braves for 4 2/3 innings. It was somewhat of a Houdini act, as he escaped multiple innings with runners on base with five hits and three walks.
The most important thing Walker did was hand the ball over to the bullpen with a zero on the board. Relievers José Ruiz and Joe Ross combined to let the Braves score three runs in three innings of work, but it was the Phillies' final reliever of the night that closed the door.
José Alvarado's outing on Wednesday did more than secure the Phillies' eighth win of the young season and give him his second save. It gave Phillies manager Rob Thomson more than enough evidence that Alvarado should be the only one he's calling in the ninth inning.
Braves' Austin Riley impressed by José Alvarado in Phillies' save situation
Recording the final four outs of the Phillies' 4-3 win while routinely pumping in 100 mph sinkers, the big left-hander seems to have secured the Phillies' closer job, at least partly. After another offseason of uncertainty about how Thomson would deploy his bullpen arms, Alvarado made the best case he could on Wednesday.
José Alvarado closes it out for the @Phillies and is PUMPED 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Fwi2whjHiU
— MLB (@MLB) April 10, 2025
Even his opponents know that Alvarado should be the Phillies' full-time closer. Braves third baseman Austin Riley, who managed a ninth-inning single against Alvarado, sung his praises after the game, according to Rick Farlow of MLB.com.
“The guy is throwing 101 with an unbelievable cutter,” Riley said, per Farlow. “He’s added a curveball. He’s a really tough pitcher. He’s closing, coming into the ninth for a reason.”
Alvarado also spoke about his more secure role, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman.
"I feel so great, man. I feel great," Alvarado said, per Seidman. "I changed my routine. The plan I have right now in the fifth inning, it's good. I need to keep it up like that. I don’t need to change anything."
It looks like Thomson, known for his love of using a committee approach to his bullpen, has settled on Alvarado as his closer, although that comes with an asterisk. Alvarado knows that he's the lefty closer.
According to Seidman, the Phillies skipper still plans to use Alvarado in the seventh or eighth as the situation dictates. But with newcomer Jordan Romano struggling, it might be time to save Alvarado exclusively for ninth-inning closing duties.
Phillies should just name José Alvarado as the full-time closer
Alvarado also shed some light on how last season's committee approach for most of the bullpen arms was difficult to deal with.
"Before, you know, it’s hard when you don’t know what’s going on with you because everybody after the fifth or sixth inning, the phone call, everybody panics, 'Oh, that’s not me,'" Alvarado told Seidman about the uncertainty in the bullpen last season. "Now everybody’s got a role. You know, today it’s me. Tomorrow, Romano. Everybody needs to be ready. The team is in a good spot. We need to keep it up like that."
Alvarado, comfortable in his routine, has picked up where he left off in spring training. He's by far the best candidate to secure saves, as he demonstrated on Wednesday. He's 2-for-2 so far in save chances and has kept a clean slate in all but one of his six appearances, logging 12 strikeouts and just two walks in 6 1/3 innings.
Alvarado has faced 21 right-handed hitters. While they've hit .316 against him in the early going, he's allowed just one run overall. He has an encouraging track record. From 2022-24, Alvarado held righties to a .214 batting average with a 3.43 ERA and a 34.6 percent strikeout rate.
Plus, Alvarado seems happy to be in his current role.
"When you have that role, you need to be prepared for that situation," Alvarado said, per Seidman. "Four outs or maybe save the game or win the game and get ready for the next day back-to-back. I’m so happy they gave me the opportunity tonight to get four outs."
Phillies fans are also happy that he was the one given the opportunity to get the big ninth-inning outs. We'll be pulling for Thomson to stick with Alvarado in the ninth, and let the other high-leverage arms handle getting the ball to him.