Phillies bullpen just got more scary with key reliever's return to form

José Alvarado has been one of the Philadelphia Phillies' most impactful players during his four-year tenure in red pinstripes. Coming off a year in which he pitched to a 1.74 ERA with almost a 14 K/9, there were not only high hopes, but high expectations for the big lefty.

The Venezuelan started 2024 with a rough outing on Opening Day when he allowed five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning against the rival Atlanta Braves. It wasn't all bad, though, as after two months of solid outings, Alvarado dropped his ERA all the way down to 2.96 by the beginning of June.

Then came the rough stretch. In 18 appearances from the beginning of July until Aug. 20, the former Tampa Bay Ray pitched 16 1/3 innings and allowed a staggering 13 runs while striking out only one more batter than he walked. During that time, batters had a .913 OPS, which would be a top-10 number in all of baseball, almost 15 points higher than Bryce Harper's 2024 OPS.

José Alvarado's return to form makes the Phillies bullpen even more scary

Alvarado stepped away on Aug. 26 to handle a personal matter for five days, and since his return, he has been lights out.

In his seven outings, Alvarado has not allowed a run, struck out nine, and has only allowed five base runners (three hits, two walks). Opponent's OPS during that span is .401, 222 points lower than the worst-qualified hitter in baseball, Maikel Garcia of the Royals. His ERA is now below 4.00 for the first time since July 13.

The turning point since Alvarado's return is the command of the sinker. This season, the Phillies pitching staff and Alvarado seemed to have completely cut out the four-seam fastball and had the hard-throwing left-hander focus on his two best pitches, the sinker and cutter.

In recent weeks, Alvarado has been able to find command of both of his pitches and has been attacking the zone with confidence, much like that of his 2023 performance. His outing against the Rays on Sept. 11 was a good measure of that, using only seven pitches and getting three quick outs in the eighth to help the Phillies escape with a 3-2 win.

After the game, Alvarado spoke about some of his struggles and what he had to do to work through them, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.

“I never give up,” Alvarado said, per Zolecki. “It’s so much different just focusing on competing and not worrying too much about those things that you can’t control. I know that I came from a rough stretch of bad outings, but I think we just left that behind.”

An overflow of reliable bullpen arms is never a problem

With the resurgence of peak Alvarado, the Phillies are looking deeper and deeper in the backend of their bullpen. After what was a monumental collapse that was largely due to faults by the relievers in 2023, manager Rob Thomson and the front office are enjoying the culmination of weapons that have collected here in 2024.

Carlos Estévez has slotted into the closer role after coming over from the Los Angeles Angels, where he was incredible for the first half of the season. Behind him, you have two of the best late-inning set-up men in baseball, conveniently throwing from opposite sides of the mound: Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm. Both All-Stars usually lock down the seventh and eighth innings.

As Alvarado seems to be back up to par, he will likely start to earn more high-leverage innings, much like he used to, but will also see more time in the stopper role alongside Orion Kerkering and José Ruiz, who have again been outstanding for the Phillies this year. This collection of relievers is there to put out fires with high-movement, high-velocity stuff, trying to induce strikeouts and get out of jams.

If the fan-favorite Alvarado can keep his command and stick around the zone, it gives the Phillies much more flexibility with the deployment of bullpen arms. Owning multiple high-leverage relievers that throw from either side is a luxury that not many teams in baseball have.