Jose

Alvarado

Alvarado entered after Jordan Romano turned a seven-run lead into a one-run game. Still, the bases were empty at that point, and Alvarado needed to get just the one out. He did on it his second pitch of the day, as Xavier Edwards lined out to right.

The 29-year-old left-hander came on with a three-run lead to protect, but things got a bit closer as he served up a one-out solo homer to Tyler Fitzgerald. After getting Wilmer Flores on a ground ball to shortstop, Alvarado walked Jung Hoo Lee to bring the tying run to the plate before retiring Christian Koss on a fielder’s choice to end it. He appears to be locked in as the preferred ninth inning option for manager Rob Thomson and should continue to provide plenty of fantasy value for as long as he remains healthy and stationed there.

José Alvarado remains the top reliever in the Phillies pen, but manager Rob Thomson used him against the top of the order in the eighth tonight. He gave up one run, narrowing the Phillies’ lead to two, before Strahm retired the bottom third of the lineup in order in the ninth. It’s Strahm’s 10th career save. He had four for Boston in 2022 and then two and three in his first two years in Philly.

Alvarado entered the game in the eighth inning with Michael Harris II up and the go-ahead run on first. He got Harris to ground out to shortstop and then came back out in the ninth inning after Trea Turner had put the Phillies up by one. Alvarado would then allow singles to Marcell Ozuna and Austin Riley, but also get a ground out and strikeouts of Matt Olson and Sean Murphy to close out the win. It never seems easy for Alvarado, but he’s clearly the most valuable reliever in the Phillies’ bullpen right now and needs to be rostered in all formats.

Alvarado was summoned to protect a narrow one-run advantage and needed just 10 pitches (seven strikes) to set down the top of the Dodgers order including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman. The hard-throwing 29-year-old southpaw has looked like one of the most dominant relievers in baseball since the start of spring training and appears to be firmly-entrenched as Philadelphia’s primary closer.

Interestingly enough, Jordan Romano worked the eighth inning of Thursday’s contest, and he worked a scoreless frame with one strikeout. Alvarado was handed a three-run lead, but he did make it interesting by allowing three hits and a walk; one of those hits being an RBI single. He also struck out three, so the stuff was fine even when the command wasn’t. Alvarado could see more save chances, but Romano remains the favorite to get the majority of those opportunities.

Romano entered the contest to protect a two-run lead in the eighth inning and immediately got himself in trouble by issuing a leadoff walk to Dylan Crews before hitting Jacob Young with a pitch. He had a chance to wriggle out of the frame with only one run crossing the plate but ended up surrendering a game-tying single to Luis García Jr. with two outs in the frame. It’s notable that hard-throwing veteran lefty José Alvarado, who was lights out during spring training, came on to toss a perfect ninth inning and was credited with the win after the Phillies pulled away in extra innings. It’s looking more like a timeshare situation between Romano and Alvarado at the moment.

José Alvarado struck out the side the inning prior. He has looked as good as any reliever in baseball this spring, but it still seems like Romano will be the primary closer on Philly. He’s allowed only a pair of unearned runs and three hits over six innings this spring. He was up to 96.0 mph on average with his fastball today, down just 0.4 mph from last year.

Alvarado has been in peak form this spring, throwing four scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. He averaged 99.5 mph with his sinker today, compared to 97.8 mph last season, and his cutter has seen an even bigger velocity gain. Jordan Romano figures to be the Phillies’ primary closer initially, but Alvarado would be nice to have stashed, particularly since Romano is far from a sure thing.

The 29-year-old southpaw had been away from the team on a personal matter, but he returned on Saturday and will be active for Sunday’s series finale against the Braves. Yunior Marte was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in a corresponding move.