José Alvarado
Many may find it surprising to see reliever José Alvarado in this X factor category. After all, he has had a season to forget so far in 2024. Entering the year as perhaps one of the Phillies’ most reliable bullpen arms over the past couple of seasons, Alvarado struggled mightily in his new role as the team’s de facto closer. Even when he was finally removed from the role, his struggles followed him.
On the year, despite converting 13 saves in 16 opportunities along with eight holds, Alvarado has uncharacteristically posted a 1-5 record with a 4.22 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, with 53 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings over 57 appearances. More worrisome is the fact that his strikeout rate has dropped off quite a bit from previous seasons while his hit and home run rates have climbed.
Nevertheless, there is still time for Alvarado to right the ship, as he is now fresh coming off the restricted list recently. September comes just at the right time for Alvarado, as he has shown in the past to post his best numbers during the month for his career.
In his lifetime, he has registered a tidy 2.20 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, with 72 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched over 59 career appearances during the final month of the season. If he can replicate some of those numbers in any sort of fashion this time around, it will go a long way in helping to reestablish his success, as well as the Phillies going forward. It will also help provide some much-needed stability in the Phillies relief corps, which has been in flux for the past few weeks.