Phillies’ Star Relief Pitcher Receives Glowing Reviews From Rival Braves

The Philadelphia Phillies have gotten off to a wonderful start in the 2025 MLB regular season, going 8-3.

But, only 11 games into the campaign, their bullpen is already running on fumes as they are feeling the losses of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez. Both players left in free agency, signing deals with the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals.

To help offset those departures, the team signed former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano and Joe Ross, who has mostly been a swing man in his career. But he has been thrust into a larger role because of all the close games the team is playing; the normal high-leverage arms are being taxed.

It doesn’t help that Romano has been a disaster thus far.

Through five appearances and 4.0 innings, he has an ugly 15.75 ERA, allowing seven runs on six hits and four walks. With diminished velocity, there are concerns about his performance and whether he can get on track.

Luckily for the Phillies, they have had several other relief pitchers step up and fill the void.

Orion Kerkering is one of the best young relievers in baseball. Matt Strahm, an All-Star in 2024, has yet to allow a run in 5.1 innings.

But the player whose emergence has been the most beneficial for the team is veteran Jose Alvarado.

Under manager Rob Thomson, there haven’t always been set roles for the players coming out of the bullpen. He would play matchups and call upon his best relievers when he needed them the most, regardless of where they were at in the game.

It wasn’t a strategy that everyone could excel in. Alvardo was one of the players who struggled to find his groove in 2024, as he moved further down the pecking order as the season moved along.

Motivated to not have that happen again, he focused his efforts this offseason on getting into better shape and expanding his pitching repertoire.

All of that hard work has paid off with Alvarado cementing his status as the team’s go-to reliever late in the games, coming in either the eighth or ninth inning.

“It’s easier when you know, ‘OK, this is my inning. This is the game,'” Alvarado said, via Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required). “You know?”

He has responded accordingly, looking as dominant as ever whenever his number is called.

In all six games he has appeared in, Philadelphia has won. He has two saves, pitching 6.1 innings with an impressive 1.42 ERA and 12 strikeouts.

In his most recent outing against the Atlanta Braves, he recorded four outs to get the save. Pitching more than one inning is something he hadn’t done in nearly two years, but he looked like a natural.

His stuff is so impressive now, that even opponents marvel at it.

“I mean, the guy’s throwing 101 with an unbelievable cutter,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “He’s added a curveball. He’s a really, really tough pitcher. He’s closing, coming in in the ninth for a reason.”

Any time Alvarado steps onto the mound, his opponent’s confidence level drops. Even the coaching staff knows that it is going to be tough mounting any offense against him.

“That’s a tough at-bat there against that guy,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Just hoping maybe he’d miss one and somebody would walk it off.”

His presence at the back end of the bullpen has been key to the Phillies getting off to a strong start. They are hoping he can remain reliable as other relief pitchers still iron out some issues.