The Phillies announced that left-hander José Alvarado has been reinstated from the restricted list. That move was expected as he had served his 80-game PED suspension. To make make room for him, the Phils optioned right-hander Nolan Hoffman to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and designated left-hander Josh Walker for assignment.
Walker, 30, was acquired from the Jays in exchange for cash back in May. He pitched five innings with Toronto but hasn’t appeared in the majors with Philadelphia. Rather, he’s spent his entire time with the Phillies organization in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he’s logged 26 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate.
A towering 6’6″ left-hander, Walker has appeared in parts of three big league seasons — two with the Mets and earlier this year with the Jays. He’s pitched only 27 1/3 MLB frames, however, and sports a rocky 6.59 ERA in that limited sample of work. He’s fanned nearly one quarter of his opponents and has a sharp 12.4% swinging-strike rate, but command has been a struggle for him both in the majors and in the upper minors. That said, Walker does have a more palatable 4.46 ERA and 26% strikeout rate in 167 2/3 innings of Triple-A work.
Alvarado has been out since May 16 after receiving an 80-game ban following a positive PED test. His absence subtracted one of the Phillies’ top relief arms, and he’ll return to a new-look bullpen that suddenly looks like a powerhouse. In Alvarado’s absence, the Phillies acquired Jhoan Duran from the Twins and signed free agent David Robertson. That pair, combined with Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering, Tanner Banks and the returning Alvarado, makes the Phillies’ relief corps both exceptionally deep and dangerous for opposing lineups.
In 20 innings prior to his suspension, Alvarado pitched to a 2.70 ERA with a 29.8% strikeout rate and just a 4.8% walk rate. While he had some struggles last year (4.09 ERA), Alvarado has generally been a high-impact bullpen weapon for skipper Rob Thomson for the past several seasons. Dating back to 2022, he’s pitched 174 major league innings and logged a 3.10 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 50.5% grounder rate.
Despite being on the restricted list, Alvarado was allowed to pitch in a minor league rehab stint as a tune-up to return to the Philadelphia bullpen. He tossed five shutout innings, albeit with as many walks as strikeouts. Alvarado recorded a huge 62.9% ground-ball rate in that time. His average sinker dipped from 99.3 mph to 98 mph, though that’s not exactly a surprise given the lengthy layoff.
While Alvarado will provide a major boost to the Phillies down the stretch, he’ll be a non-factor when the postseason rolls around. Players who are suspended for PED usage are ruled ineligible for the playoffs during the year in which they served their suspension. Thomson will have Alvarado at his disposal for the next six weeks, but in October, it’ll be Duran, Robertson, Strahm, Banks and Kerkering anchoring the bullpen — perhaps alongside one of the current rotation members, depending on the health and performance of the group between now and late September.
He is a bottom 10 Mets reliever of all time. I’ve never seen him get an out
Helsley is fighting for that spot this year.
@VonPurpleHayes Helsly’s stuff is elite, he is just going through a rough stretch right now
He’s had a rough stretch with the Cardinals before the trade too. He just doesn’t have it this year.
Why not get rid of Romano???
Romano should’ve been sent out with the bag full of money he stole all year
They kept the receipt for Romano but the store won’t take him back.
No Romano. Only Parmesan..
Congratulations for submitting the Best Comment of the Day.
The Phillies and Jordan Romano mutually agreed on a contract. No stealing was involved.
Phillies bullpen is going to look pretty good with Strahm, Robertson, Kerkering, Alvarado and Duran back there. Now we just need to send Romano away somewhere.
Romano isn’t even good enough to be a 10 runner, coming in either up or down by 10 runs.
They still have a chance to either bring up a couple prospects they did not trade and see what they have or go get a Ryan Pressly to fill a role that Romano cannot. Worth a shot. I’d also call up Crawford when rosters expand. Stubbs, Kemp, Crawford, Painter and Wood are my call ups. Give some depth and rest and figure out what some have at the MLB level. Other teams do it and discover assets that can compete.
Yeah. Romano is a failed experiment. I fell for the guy, but he’s toast in Philly.
I feel for the guy. He looks defeated when he’s warming up.
That said, he’s being paid this season about 6x what an average American earns over a lifetime.
Why won’t DD just admit his mistake and move on. He’s hurting the team and seems to have zero upside.
The money he is getting should help his feelings to your point.
Above all things he needs a haircut. The hat on the bushy hair makes him look like a drunk carnival clown.
Stubbs filled that roll better last year.
Rosters only expand to 28 in September, so how do you plan to fit the 5 call ups that you mentioned??
Thanks, I didn’t know that. I was under the assumption like it was in the old days when you’d see 30 guys or so in the dugout. Especially on the bad Phillies teams in the 90s. But if 28 is the number then Crawford and another pitcher is key in my opinion.
Romano makes Whit Merrifield look like Mike Schmidt
Danny Tartanbull…look him up if you don`t know
Totally stole money. Him and Mike Jackson a few years later.
I would love to hear a reporter ask DD why Romano is still on this roster.
He’s a sunk cost at this point. Slightly above a position player finishing a blowout.