NEW YORK — The Phillies made an eye-catching roster change ahead of Friday night’s game against the New York Mets.
Needing to clear a spot for starting pitcher Bailey Falter, the Phils moved to frequently used left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado at Triple A.
“What we’re trying to do is get him back to where he’s an extremely valuable item again,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s struggled this year and what’s worrying is that he struggled against left-handers and last year he was dominant against them.”
Alvarado had a 4.20 ERA in 64 games for the Phillies last season. He held lefties to a .123 batting average. This season, the lefties were batting .333 against Alvarado. His ERA was 7.62 in 17 games. In 13 innings, he allowed 16 hits and 10 walks while striking out 17. He threw four wild pitches.
“His lead isn’t sinking and we just have to get him back on track,” Girardi said. “It’s hard to get people to work at this level to get them back on track.”
Alvarado, 27, has more than four years of service at the majors and earns $1.9 million this season. He’s not the only Phillies reliever to pitch badly. Certainly, there were other candidates for subtraction besides him.
Girardi was asked if sending a veteran to the minors was a bit of a message to an underperforming team.
“No,” he said firmly. “Hopefully it’s only for a short time to get him back to where he was and he can be dominant for us again.”
Alvarado learned of his demotion after Thursday night’s game in Atlanta and was unavailable for comment in New York on Friday.
Girardi acknowledged that Alvarado was unhappy with the move, “but I think he understands what we’re trying to do and how much we care about him.”
Alvarado’s departure leaves the Phillies with only one southpaw (Brad Hand) in the bullpen for an important series against the Mets. Interestingly, Alvarado has strong career numbers against current Mets hitters, which are a combined 8 for 42 (.191) with one extra hit, five walks and 15 strikeouts against him.
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