The Phillies will be without lefty reliever Jose Alvarado for the majority of the 2025 season. The southpaw fireballer isn’t injured, but failed a drug test and has been suspended 80 games for PED usage, per Robert Murray. It is his first offense.
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Alvarado is 29 years old and has been in the big leagues since 2017. He initially was in the Rays organization, but was traded in a three-team deal to the Phillies ahead of the 2021 season. Alvarado has developed into one of the best lefty relievers in baseball, given his high-mileage fastball. Despite being able to impress on the radar gun, he typically relies more on his sinker and cutter which gives him an advantage on getting in on the hands of whoever is in the batter’s box.
Here is more on Alvarado’s PED suspension.
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Why was Jose Alvarado suspended?
Alvarado violated the MLB’s PED policy and failed a drug test. He was flagged for exogenous Testosterone, which is on the banned substances list by the league. The Phillies and/or Alvarado will likely release a statement later suggesting why he used it, or claiming that he didn’t know it was in whatever medicine he was using or taking.
Alvarado’s 80-game suspension will have him eligible for Philadelphia’s 126th game of the season, which is scheduled to fall in mid-August. The bigger story here is that since he was suspended, he is no longer eligible for the postseason if the Phillies were to make it.
What is exogenous Testosterone?
Exogenous Testosterone is a fancy way of saying “testosterone not made in the body.” It is a general term that means that Alvarado was found to have failed a drug test due to the test either finding that he had too much testosterone or that he had taken something or used a cream that had given his body extra testosterone. Examples of exogenous Testosterone would be injectable testosterone, gels or pills/pellets.
Jose Alvarado contract
Alvarado signed a 3-year, $22 million deal with the Phillies ahead of the 2023 season. He is in the final year of his deal, but Philadelphia has a club option for next season. Alvarado would run the club $9 million for the 2026 season unless they worked out another extension or decided not to pick up his option and let him hit the market.
Jose Alvarado stats
| Year | Team | Games | Record | ERA | Innings | Strikeouts |
| 2017 | Rays | 35 | 0-3 | 3.64 | 29.2 | 29 |
| 2018 | Rays | 70 | 1-6 | 2.39 | 64.0 | 80 |
| 2019 | Rays | 35 | 1-6 | 4.80 | 30.0 | 39 |
| 2020 | Rays | 9 | 0-0 | 6.00 | 9.0 | 13 |
| 2021 | Phillies | 64 | 7-1 | 4.20 | 55.2 | 68 |
| 2022 | Phillies | 59 | 4-2 | 3.18 | 51.0 | 81 |
| 2023 | Phillies | 42 | 0-2 | 1.74 | 41.1 | 64 |
| 2024 | Phillies | 66 | 2-5 | 4.09 | 61.2 | 63 |
| 2025 | Phillies | 20 | 4-1 | 2.70 | 20.0 | 25 |
Phillies reliever depth
The Phillies’ pitching staff already was down an arm as Jose Ruiz is on the injured list due to neck spasms. Alvarado had been having a resurgent season with seven saves and five holds. He was a reliable option out of the bullpen and complemented the right-handed Jordan Romano well. Alvarado is the team leader in saves, so Romano will likely have to take on more work, which may be bad news for Philadelphia, as the righty has a 7.71 ERA.
Matt Strahm, Taijuan Walker and Orion Kerkering will likely have to see more action out of the pen. Walker has split between starts and the pen, but may be needed more in relief for the time being.
What is MLB’s PED policy?
Under MLB’s Joint Drug Agreement, which was last updated in 2022, all players are prohibited from using, possessing, selling, facilitating the sale of, distributing, or facilitating the distribution of any drug of abuse, human growth hormone (HGH) or steroid. Players are tested for banned substances regularly during the season.
The discipline for users of “drugs of abuse” is not the same as users of PEDs. A first-time offender of the PED policy is suspended for 80 games, a second-time offender 162 games, and a third-time offender is given a lifetime ban.
This article will be updated.
