Philadelphia Phillies Pitchers Who Need To Step Up With Jose Alvarado Suspended

The Philadelphia Phillies were delivered a devastating blow when it was announced that closer Jose Alvarado was being suspended for 80 games and will not be allowed to participate in the postseason should they qualify.

He has been excellent this season at the backend of their bullpen with a 2.70 ERA across 20 innings with seven saves, recording 25 strikeouts.

Without him, several players are going to have to step up their performance to help compensate for him no longer being in the mix, and a trade could certainly be in the cards.

Who is manager Rob Thomson going to turn to in high-leverage situations now? Here are four pitchers who need to step up with Alvarado sidelined.

Jordan Romano

The biggest addition this offseason that the Phillies made was signing the former Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano after he was non-tendered to help offset the loss of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez in free agency.

After getting off to a brutal start in his Philadelphia tenure, he has started to find his groove recently and is settling into a late-game role as the top right-handed option out of the bullpen.

Thomson doesn’t always use traditional roles with his relief pitchers, but Romano is likely going to be called upon the most often to close out games.

Orion Kerkering

In 2024, Kerkering was one of the true breakout performers in baseball. He made 64 appearances, throwing 63 innings with a 2.29 ERA and 74 strikeouts. His ERA+ was an impressive 182 and he had a FIP of 2.42.

This year, he has not yet been able to replicate that level of success and struggled out of the gate with an increased amount of responsibility as a high-leverage reliever.

The most concerning statistic is the drop in strikeouts with an 8.2 K/9 after registering a 10.6 last year.

Kerkering has been better in May, with scoreless appearances in six out of seven times he has taken the mound. The Phillies are going to need more of that moving forward.

Matt Strahm

With Alvardo sidelined, the No. 1 left-handed relief pitcher role in the Philadelphia bullpen will now fall upon Strahm.

An All-Star in 2024, he has been great again in 2025 with a 2.89 ERA. A workhorse for Thomson, he has appeared in 21 games, throwing 18.2 innings. It will be interesting to see how he is deployed now and how much his role changes.

Lacking traditional closer’s stuff, he puts away hitters with regularity, owning a 12.1 K/9 ratio. Strahm might still be relied upon to face the toughest lefties the opponent has to offer and not be saved until the end of the game, but whatever role he is filling, the team needs him to perform at an elite level.

Tanner Banks

Acquired from the Chicago White Sox ahead of the trade deadline in 2024, Banks is going to find himself in a prominent role in the bullpen moving forward.

He is the No. 2 left-handed option for Thomson now and is going to find himself in more high-leverage situations, especially if Strahm is deployed on any given night as the team’s closer.

Owning a 4.35 ERA, there is some bad luck included in that statistic based on the 3.48 FIP that he owns. That suggests he has performed better than his raw numbers, which is good news for Philadelphia since he will be pitching later in the game more often as long as Alvardo is away from the team.