PHILADELPHIA - Jose Alvarado slipped on his Phillies pinstriped uniform on Monday and headed out to center field to take the team picture.
Alvarado was back with his teammates for the first time since being suspended 80 games for testing positive for a banned substance on May 18. The reliever and club have said the hard-throwing left-hander took a weight loss supplement without realizing it contained the substance.
While Alvarado was back with the team Tuesday, he still has time to serve on his suspension. He can't be activated until August 19.
Being back in Philadelphia gave him an opportunity to address his teammates.
"He just wanted to apologize to everyone, I can always respect him, he knows how he is, he knows what he did wrong and he was able to address it," said Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering. "I think everybody understood he made a mistake and didn't know any better. It's all he can do. I don't think anything worse of him."
Alvarado will start a minor-league assignment soon, ramping up so he will be ready to go when he can be activated. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said the organization is still working out the details of Alvarado's assignment and when he will pitch for the first time.
Alvarado threw a bullpen on Tuesday. The reliever has been staying sharp throwing in Venezuela.
"He's in a good frame of mind really eneregtic, really happy to be here," said Thomson. "I thought (the message) to the team was very good, short and sweet and he's moving on.
"Bullpen went really well, velocity was good, command was really good, cutter was really good, and it looked like he's been throwing."
Thomson said Alvarado will likely stay with the minor-league team he is sent to until his activation date but that hasn't been decided.
When he was suspended, Alvarado had a 2.70 ERA, seven saves and 25 strikeouts in 20 innings. He was the top reliever in the bullpen and has been sorely missed, though the Phillies acquired his replacement and then some in a trade with Minnesota for Jhoan Duran last week.
This is Alvarado's fifth season in Philadelphia and he has been a stalwart in the late innings since he arrived in a trade from Tampa Bay prior to the 2021 season.
Alvarado will eventually help set up for Duran when he returns and give the Phillies a left-right knockout punch down the stretch - though as part of the suspension the lefty won't be eligible for the postseason.
"We'll start him out in a low-leverage situation, just to ease him in and go from there," said Thomson.
Alvarado has taken responsibility for taking the substance, though reiterated it was a mistake.
"Rules are rules, he takes full responsibility, he's willing to move past that episode of his life and he's willing to create a new journey," said assistant GM Jorge Velandia, summarizing Alvarado's responses to reporter's questions prior to Tuesday's game. "Extremely disappointed, painful, sorrow. He apologizes again to the fans, to his organization, to his country, his family. Unfortunately he can't pitch in the playoffs, and that's something he takes to heart."
Alvarado didn't feel the banned substance had any effect on his pitching.
"Ever since he got bigger, he's always thrown hard," said Velandia, summarizing Alvarado. "He doesn't believe whatever he took helped his performance. He took it to take some weight off, but he doesn't think that helped his performance. He never took a substance to make himself a better pitcher."
While he was gone, Alvarado said he watched every Phillies game and it stung when he thought he would have been in the game.
"I was watching my teammate's every day, it was hard, couple moments, I said to my family this is my time," said Alvarado.
Even though he can't pitch in the postseason, Alvarado can still help the Phillies win the National League East and earn a first-round bye. The Phillies started Tuesday leading the National League East by 1 1/2 games in the division and trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by a half-game in the race for a first-round bye.
"Every game counts now, every game counted before," said Kerkering. "Especially with how good the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, everybody on top of the bracket is getting that first-round bye is the most important thing right now.'