BIOGRAPHY
José Alvarado was born May 21, 1995, in Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela. He is a pitcher in the MLB.
Alvarado was signed as a pitcher out of his native Venezuela in 2012 when he was 16 years old. Alvarado pitched his first two seasons in the Venezuelan Summer League, where he was used as a starter, posting an earned run average (ERA) of 1.97 in 2013. In 2014, Alvarado was on the Rays rookie league team, starting 11 games, with a 3.79 ERA.
In 2018, Alvarado was a key contributor to the Rays bullpen, specifically in late, high leverage situations. Overall, he finished the season with a 2.39 ERA (ranking second on his team), 8 saves (third on team), 31 holds (tied for most in the American League (AL) with teammate Chaz Roe), and 11.3 strikeouts per nine IP (highest on team) in 64 innings over 70 games (second-most on team).
On December 29, 2020, Alvarado was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a three-team trade that sent Garrett Cleavinger from Philadelphia to the Los Angeles Dodgers and minor leaguer Dillon Paulson and a player to be named later from the Dodgers to the Rays. In 2021, Alvarado recorded a 4.20 ERA and struck out 68 batters while walking 47 in 55+2⁄3 innings of relief.
On March 22, 2022, Alvarado signed a $1.9 million contract with the Phillies, avoiding salary arbitration.
In the 2022 regular season he was 4-2 with two saves and a 3.18 ERA in 51.0 innings over 59 relief appeareances, averaging 4.2 walks and 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He appeared in twelve games of the postseason for the Phillies that year, recording three holds, a win in Game 5 of the pennant clinching game, and went one-for-two in saves. In Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, he was sent out to defend a precarious situation in relief of Aaron Nola: bases loaded and no outs in the fifth inning with Yordan Alvarez at the plate. His first pitch landed squarely in the waist of Alvarez, scoring in a run. Alvarado then allowed a double to right from Alex Bregman to score two runs before a sacrifice fly by Kyle Tucker and a hit by Yuli Gurriel capper the scoring at five runs, which proved key in the 5-0 win by Houston. In Game 6, he was sent out in another tough situation to relieve Zach Wheeler in the sixth inning: two on base, one out in a 1-0 game, with Yordan Alvarez looming at the plate. On the third pitch, Alvarez hit a towering 450 foot shot to center field to give the Astros the lead. Alvarado struck out a batter before walking one on his way out of the mound as the Phillies soon lost 4-1 to lose the Series.
