It's been almost 80 games since the shocking news broke on May 18 that Philadelphia Phillies left-hander José Alvarado had been suspended for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Now that he's back stateside he's working towards an Aug. 19 return, when he's first eligible, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Bob Cooney.
After throwing a bullpen session in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Alvarado joined Triple-A Lehigh Valley to get back into game shape. He got in his first game action on Thursday for the IronPigs. Coming in for the sixth inning against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (the New York Yankees' affiliate), he pitched one inning, allowing a single and logging two strikeouts.
José Alvarado's velocity looked good, although slightly down, for his first game action in almost three months
As Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, Alvarado touched 98.6 mph with his sinker during his inning of work. In fact, according to Statcast, the lefty had the five fastest pitches in the entire contest — all five were thrown 98 mph or faster. He needed only 12 pitches to get through the frame. Six of those were sinkers, with the slowest clocking in at 97.7 mph.
José Alvarado’s first rehab appearance: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K. Touched 98.6 mph with his sinker.
— Lochlahn March (@lochlahn) August 8, 2025
Now, as good as that sounds, Alvarado's not quite back to where he was before he started serving his suspension. His sinker averaged 99.3 mph in his first 20 games of the season. He also threw five cutters on Thursday, averaging 90.7 mph, which is 3.0 mph slower than earlier in the season. His lone curveball was just 0.4 mph slower than his season average.
It's understandable that he might have been a little rusty in his first live game action in almost three months. Alvarado continued working at home in Venezuela, where he threw bullpen sessions and faced hitters, per MLB.com's Paul Casella. But you can't replace game action.
What will be José Alvarado's role when he returns to the Phillies?
The 30-year-old looked nearly untouchable to begin the season, posting a 2.70 ERA with 25 strikeouts to just four walks in 20 innings. He led the team with seven saves at the time of his suspension.
He'll still be just one behind Jordan Romano's eight saves when he eventually returns to the majors. It might be a rare sight to see him pitching in the ninth inning now that Jhoan Duran is the clear-cut closer. Phillies manager Rob Thomson intends to ease Alvarado back into high-leverage action.
"I don't know, really," Thomson said about Alvarado's usage, per Casella. "I would think we'll start him out in low-leverage situations just to get a look at him and ease him in, then go from there."
Alvarado isn't eligible for the postseason, which will be another big loss to the bullpen come October. However, he assured fans that he's going to be the best version of himself for the six weeks he's on the roster.
“I worked hard because I wanted to show the fans that I’m ready to go," Alvarado said, per Casella. "I want to contribute in whatever way and perform whenever I get the opportunity to pitch. The Philadelphia Phillies fans are going to see the José Alvarado they’ve always seen."