Phillies Designate Josh Walker For Assignment, Activate José Alvarado
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.
Phillies Recall Nolan Hoffman For MLB Debut
The Phillies announced that right-hander Max Lazar has been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Fellow righty Nolan Hoffman has been recalled to take his roster spot. Hoffman will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Hoffman, 28, was acquired from the Rangers in mid-June. The Phils sent cash to Texas to get him. The Phillies added Hoffman to their 40-man roster but optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. It’s likely that Hoffman had some kind of opt-out or upward mobility clause in his deal with the Rangers. The Phils were willing to give him a 40-man spot but didn’t call him up to the active roster until today.
Since coming over in that trade, the submariner has been posting decent numbers. He often gets strikeouts and grounders but also gives out walks, which has been the case since joining the Phils. In 19 Triple-A innings since the trade, he has a 3.32 earned run average. His 31.8% strikeout rate and 51.1% ground ball are strong but he’s also given out free passes to 12.9% of batters faced. Last year, he was in the Orioles’ system and tossed 58 Triple-A innings with a 3.88 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, 52% grounder rate and 13.6% walk rate.
It’s possible that Hoffman will be quickly optioned back to the IronPigs. As noted by Paul Casella of MLB.com, lefty José Alvarado will be able to return from his 80-game PED suspension tomorrow. Perhaps that means Hoffman is just up to provide a fresh arm for tonight’s game.
The Phils used five relievers last night. One of them was Lazar, who pitched two nights in a row. It’s possible that Lazar was going to be the corresponding move for Alvarado tomorrow, but since he tossed a combined 40 pitches over the past two games and might have needed a night off anyway, he’s been sent out today. Time will tell if it’s actually just a one-day stint for Hoffman or not. Either way, he’s up in the show for the first time. The Phils will also need to open a 40-man roster spot for Alvarado’s activation.
Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images
Phillies Acquire Nolan Hoffman From Rangers
The Phillies announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired righty Nolan Hoffman from the Rangers in exchange for cash. Hoffman was not on the 40-man roster with Texas but has been selected to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He won’t immediately join the Phillies’ bullpen, but the instant addition to the 40-man clearly puts him in position to potentially make his major league debut in the near future.
Hoffman, 27, was originally a fifth-round pick by the 2018 Mariners and landed with the Orioles by way of the minor league phase of the 2021 Rule 5 Draft. He became a minor league free agent following the 2024 season, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and is now on the doorstep of a big league opportunity in Philadelphia.
The submarining Hoffman brings an uncommon arm slot to the Phillies’ bullpen mix, but he’s had a rough stretch with the Rangers’ Triple-A club in 2025. He’s punched out 29% of his opponents in 35 innings, but Hoffman also has a bloated 13.2% walk rate that has contributed to an ugly 5.91 earned run average. He’s been plagued by a .321 average on balls in play despite awful batted-ball metrics from his opponents — 85.7 mph average exit velocity, 28.2% hard-hit rate — as well as a 66.8% strand rate that’s well shy of his typical levels.
Prior to this season, Hoffman enjoyed nice stretches in Double-A and Triple-A with the O’s organization. His 2023 campaign saw the righty take advantage of his deceptive arm slot in the form of a 3.05 ERA over 44 1/3 innings between Baltimore’s top two minor league affiliates. He followed that with a 3.88 ERA and what was then a career-best 28.2% strikeout rate in 58 Triple-A frames in 2024.
Hoffman has regularly generated grounders at huge rates, though this year’s 44.6% mark is only a couple percentage points north of the MLB average. That’s perhaps in part due to some tweaks made by the Rangers’ development staff. He’s still throwing his sinker more than half the time, and Hoffman has even upped the average velocity on that pitch from 91.9 to 93.3 mph. He’s also begun to incorporate a new (but still seldom-used) cutter and scaled back his usage of his curveball and changeup. Obviously, Hoffman isn’t going to step in and cure all the Phillies’ bullpen woes, but he gives them another option to evaluate in the weeks leading up to a trade deadline that figures to see Philadelphia president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski again focus heavily on upgrading his relief corps.