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The Phillies bullpen is set to be reinforced as the calendar flips to September. Left-hander Jose Alvarado told reporters (including Matt Gelb of The Athletic) that he will be activated from the restricted list on Sunday. Alvarado noted that he returned to Venezuela to handle a family matter during his absence from the team. No corresponding moves will be necessary to activate Alvarado as the club’s 40-man roster currently stands at 39 and rosters will expand from 26 to 28 on Sunday.
Alvarado, 29, is in the midst of a down season as he’s posted a pedestrian 4.30 ERA with a 4.17 FIP in 52 1/3 innings of work across 56 appearances. Prior to this down season, Alvarado’s career had seemingly been on the upswing as he posted back-to-back dominant seasons with the Phillies in which he sported a combined 2.53 ERA with an even more impressive 2.14 FIP and and 37.6 percent strikeout rate. However, his strikeout rate has plummeted to just 23.3 percent this year and his groundball rate has similarly suffered. After sitting at an elite 55.1 percent from 2022-23, the 2024 campaign has seen it dip to a far more middling 45.8 percent.
Disappointing as Alvarado’s season has been across the board, the Phillies are nonetheless surely excited to welcome him back into the fold. After all, the club’s relief corps has fashioned a lackluster 4.57 ERA since the All-Star break that’s left them bottom four in the NL over that stretch. Their 4.76 FIP is better than only the lowly Rockies among NL clubs. Even Alvarado’s roughly average numbers from this season would constitute a step forward for the struggling bullpen in Philadelphia, to say nothing of how meaningful a return to form would be for the club as it looks to make a third consecutive trip to the NLCS.
Alvarado’s return should be particularly impactful for the club against southpaws. Even amid his lackluster results this year, the lefty has still done quite well against same-handed hitting with a 3.71 ERA and a 3.21 FIP. While his strikeout rate has suffered against hitters from both sides of the plate this year, he still generates grounders as effectively as ever against southpaws with an excellent 55.1 percent clip against lefty bats this season. That should help to take pressure off the Philly bullpen’s other two lefties, Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks, and allow them to be used in more flexible roles by manager Rob Thomson going forward.
Aside from Alvarado’s value as a third lefty for the club’s bullpen, the Phillies are also surely hoping that a return to action over the course of the season’s final month will help Alvarado regain the elite form he flashed the previous two seasons. After all, the lefty is under contract for 2025 with a $9M team option for the 2026 season, and a return to form next season would likely make exercising that option something of a no-brainer for Philadelphia brass.
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