Phillies Notes: Alvarado, Kemp, Thomson, Calitri

The Phillies are now in offseason mode after getting dropped by the Dodgers in the NLDS. The outfield is going to be a key focus this winter but there are other details to be ironed out. On left-hander José Alvarado, the Phils will have to decide between a $9MM club option or a $500K buyout, a net $8.5MM decision. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said yesterday, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, that he would be surprised if Alvarado is not back on the roster next year.

That’s not a firm commitment but it certainly seems like the most likely outcome is Alvarado’s option being picked up. That always seemed likely, as the option price is fair for a pitcher of Alvarado’s quality. On the other hand, it was reasonable to wonder if Alvarado’s 80-game PED suspension annoyed the club enough that they would let him walk. But it seems they will move past that and bring the lefty back for another year.

Dating back to the start of 2022, Alvarado has given the Phils 180 innings with a 3.25 earned run average. His 10.2% walk rate in that span was high but he struck out 31.7% of batters faced and got grounders at a strong 50.1% clip. He earned 32 saves and 48 holds in that time. As seen on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, 15 relief pitchers got $9MM or more last winter. Even Jordan Romano, who was a big question mark after an injury-marred 2024, got $8.5MM. Given those market conditions, picking up Alvarado’s option makes plenty of sense.

Elsewhere on the roster, infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp is slated for multiple surgeries, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Gelb notes that Kemp fractured his kneecap when he fouled a ball off himself on June 17th, though he never went on the injured list. He will now be undergoing surgery to repair it, in addition to a minor surgery to clean out some damage in his left shoulder. It’s unclear what sort of recovery timeline he is facing.

Kemp made his major league debut this year and stepped to the plate 218 times. His 5.5% walk rate and 30.7% strikeout rate were both bad but he launched eight home runs. His .234/.298/.411 slash translated to a 95 wRC+, indicating he was 5% worse than league average.

In the minors, Kemp’s walk and strikeout rates have been far better, so perhaps better results can be expected going forward. It’s also possible the knee injury knocked his numbers down somewhat. He played the non-shortstop infield positions and left field, so he could be a useful utility player for the Phils.

There are also some noteworthy developments related to the Philadelphia coaching staff. Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic was among those to cover those. The Phils are planning to hire a new bench coach to work under manager Rob Thomson this winter. Current bench coach Mike Calitri will stay on the staff but with a new title of major league field coordinator.

Back in 2022, Calitri was working for the Phils as a quality assurance coach. That summer, manager Joe Girardi was fired. Thomson, then the bench coach, was promoted to the skipper’s chair. Calitri then replaced Thomson as the bench coach.

Dombrowski also mentioned that Thomson will likely get an extension at some point. The skipper is only signed through 2026 and it was reported earlier this week that he would be back next year but clubs generally don’t like to have managers in a lame duck situation. “(Thomson) was already signed for this coming year, so it really was just a matter of moving forward and having conversations in regards to a lot of different topics with him,” Dombrowski said, per Varnes. “I do think, at some point, we talked that I would look at adding a year into his contract (this winter).”

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images