Mar 9, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher José Alvarado (46) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth inning during spring trining at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
CLEARWATER, Fla, - If the Phillies could wrap Jose Alvarado in bubble wrap and ship him north to Washington D.C. to just sit and wait for the next 12 days for Opening Day, they would.
That's how impressive he's been this spring.
Alvarado threw another inning of pure gas on Saturday in the Phillies 2-2 tie with the Detroit Tigers.
He faced the middle of the Tigers order - Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres and Kerry Carpenter - and blew them away.
He struck out all three batters on just 16 pitches, 11 of those pitches topped 100 MPH.
So far this spring, Alvarado has pitched in six games. He has thrown six innings and faced just 22 batters total. He's allowed two hits and three walks, but he hasn't allowed a run and has 15 strikeouts.
Jose Alvarado this spring:
6.0 IP | 2 H | 0 ER | 3 BB | 15 K | 0.00 ERA pic.twitter.com/rB3OIQdtUu
That means he's struck out 68.2% of the batters he's faced, or better than 2-of-3.
Those numbers - which don't count, of course - are just silly. And yet, they exist.
It's a far cry from where Alvarado was a season ago, when manager Rob Thomson lost confidence in him in high-leverage situations, and he would only come in to pitch when the team was trailing or comfortably ahead.
But he made a commitment to get in better shape in the offseason, dropped about 20 pounds, and pick up some more velocity on his pitches.
The sinker with which he struck out Torres was a hair below 102MPH.
If Alvarado can carry over his spring success into the regular season, and maintain a level of consistency, it will go a long way toward the Phillies having four reliable, back end relievers who can put a game away, with Alvarado and Matt Strahm from the left side and Jordan Romano and Orion Kerkering from the right side.
Strahm threw a ball from 75 feet for the first time Saturday, the first time he picked up a ball in 10 days after being temporarily shut down with shoulder inflammation.
A Matt Strahm update:
Rob Thomson said Strahm passed a strength test & has "no pain." So he played long toss today from 75 feet - "and everything went well"
The plan is to extend that tomorrow. And Thomson didn't rule out Opening Day, but said the process will "take some time"
Strahm reported no pain, and the Phillies are going to begin ramping him up on Sunday. He may not be ready for Opening Day, but there is a chance. If not, it won't be long thereafter.
Romano and Kerkering also pitched well on Saturday. Both tossed 1-2-3 innings, with Romano throwing 13 pitches, 10 for strikes and had a strikeout, while Kerkering was even more efficient with two strikeouts on 11 pitches, eight of which were for strikes.
Orion Kerkering with a couple of strikeouts in a perfect inning! pic.twitter.com/1Drs40H6sE
Romano has not allowed an earned run in six innings of work this spring and Kerkering has allowed just one run in five innings.
"All three of those guys were really good," manager Rob Thomson said. "Romano's fastball is getting up there and he's been consistent day after day and his slider's really improved. Kerkering is just really efficient. His slider is playing and he's throwing his fastball where he wants, so , yeah, all good things."
