May 2, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jose Alvarado (46) reacts to a victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
José Alvarado’s 2025 season is over. It’s possible that the hard-throwing lefty has made his final appearance with the Phillies.
To make room on the 26-man roster for Walker Buehler — who will start Friday evening against the Kansas City Royals — the Phillies placed Alvarado on the 15-day injured list with a left forearm strain.
Rob Thomson called the strain "very mild" Friday afternoon, but still said that Alvarado will be done for the season. Alvarado had an MRI done this afternoon after experiencing soreness following his most recent outing on Wednesday. He's not expected to need surgery.
Thomson also added this: "Our plan now is just get him ready for next year."
Of course, there's no guarantee that Alvarado will still in red pinstripes next year. The Phillies will have to decide whether or not to exercise his $9 million club option for 2026. If they don't, they'll owe a $500,000 buyout, but free up $8.5 million to potentially allocate elsewhere. That is a significant chunk of change considering Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Ranger Suárez and Harrison Bader are all scheduled to become free agents.
At the same time, $9 million isn't an unfair price if Alvarado is pitching like he did at the outset of the season. Across his first 20 games of the season, Alvarado had a 2.70 ERA and recorded 25 strikeouts.
But then Alvarado missed 80 games serving a performance-enhancing drug suspension after testing positive for exogenous testosterone. Alvarado has remained steadfast that he wasn't attempting to cheat, but rather took a weight-loss drug without checking with the Phillies and that's what caused the flagged test.
Regardless of what the truth is there, Alvarado's suspension left the Phillies in a lurch. He was their only reliable high-leverage reliever early in the season, and then got suspended for 80 games and the postseason. He didn't pitch well in what proved to be his final eight appearances of the season, posting a 7.50 ERA after returning from the suspension. But his velocity continued to sit in the high-90s.
Rob Thomson on José Alvarado’s injury: “The plan now is just get him ready for next year.”
(via @GraceDelPizzo) pic.twitter.com/x7UqwEg4nu
So did the Phillies get enough of a glimpse at Alvarado after the suspension to believe the lefty can be a strong set-up option for Jhoan Duran next year?
"I think it's something to talk about, sure," Thomson said.
What the Phillies could do is decline Alvarado's option and then try to renegotiate with him on a lower price. They would still owe the $500,000 buyout. But if Alvarado were to re-sign for, say, $7 million, the net price of paying him $7.5 million in 2026 would still be $1.5 million cheaper than picking up his option.
Time will tell what the future holds for Alvarado and the Phillies, but this is certainly an unceremonious end to a strange campaign, and possibly to a tenure in Philadelphia that was, at times, great.
