Philadelphia Phillies: Jose Alvarado has become a “Pitching Ninja” favorite

One of the more fun follows on *Baseball Twitter*, Rob Friedman (aka @PitchingNinja) has made a name for himself by showcasing and highlighting the art of pitching. Whether it’s at the professional level or elsewhere, Friedman is your one-stop shop for all pitching related clips, graphics, breakdowns, and interviews. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the “Ninja” has recently taking a liking to a Philadelphia Phillies reliever who’s been dominating down in Clearwater.

Acquired via a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays back in late December, the landing of Jose Alvarado was an early step in Dave Dombrowski’s long winded attempt to fix the Phillies bullpen. A flame-throwing lefty who’d battled injuries over the last few seasons, Dombrowski was hoping that he could return to shape moving forward.

Return to shape he has.

Philadelphia Phillies LHP Jose Alvarado has become a Pitching Ninja favorite.

Two years removed from his career-best season in 2018, Alvarado showed up to Phillies Spring Training severely downsized, as he made a reported effort to shed body fat over the offseason. Despite operating with a far slimmer frame compared to his Tampa Bay days, Alvarado was still routinely hitting the triple digits with his fastball, reaching as high as 101 MPH during an outing against the Toronto Blue Jays:

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1373356140789174273?s=20

Nicknamed “el diablo” by the before mentioned “Pitching Ninja”, Alvarado has impressed at every turn this offseason. His fastball routinely flirts with the ever-coveted 100 MPH mark, and his slider has left batters completely fooled at the plate.

A performance that Friedman highlighted earlier in the week against the Tigers really showcases the pure amount of filth that Alvarado is working with at the moment. The first three pitches have the batter completely frozen – followed by a devastating back-foot slider:

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1372268592805380096?s=20

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The “Pitching Ninja” isn’t the only one who’s taken notice of Alvarado’s stuff this spring either, as at least one scout pinned him as someone who should end up as the Philadelphia Phillies closer this season. It’s hard to find too much fault in such logic, as utilizing the ex-Ray in the ninth inning of games would almost guarantee a high save rate in 2021.

On the other side of the argument, saving Alvarado to matchup against Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, and other left-handed batters in the 7th/8th inning of games could be equally as effective – leaving closing duties to the likes of either Archie Bradley or Hector Neris.

Above all else, having this level of national excitement generated about one of the team’s relievers is something Phillies fans aren’t really used to. The bullpen was historically bad last year, and prior to that it was still mediocre at best. The organization had zero relief arms coming anywhere close to 100 MPH, nevertheless 100 MPH with movement.

As long as Alvarado can stay healthy this season (knock on wood!), it’s hard not to feel like he’s going to be a wonderful addition moving forward. He’s still under team control through 2023 as well, meaning he could ultimately build himself a pretty solid career in Philadelphia over the next few seasons as a high-leverage relief arm.

Above all else, watching Alvarado throw turbo sinkers and end up trending on Twitter has been a fun experience the last couple of weeks. Here’s to hoping he continues to pop up on the “Pitching Ninja’s” Twitter page throughout the regular season.

(Check out this K strut!)