Jose Alvarado may not pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies the rest of the season, and writers are suggesting the team goes to an in-house option for the closer’s replacement.
Philadelphia is 10-4 in one-run games, and relievers Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano have picked up the slack since Alvarado’s was suspended 80 games for a failed performance-enhancing drug test.
But that didn’t stop Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Marcus Hayes from bashing Alvarado while floating Taijuan Walker as the team’s new closer in a column released Tuesday.
“Alvarado’s selfishness — and that’s what PED use is, in this age of information saturation — left his club without its de facto closer; the Phils abhor such designations, but he was the late-innings ace,” Hayes wrote. “His intentional negligence — that’s what it was, in this age of information saturation — imperiled a potentially historic season for a $296 million, luxury-taxed team.”
Though Walker boasts respectable numbers, a 2-3 record and 2.97 ERA in 39 1/3 innings pitched in 2025, he has already been sent to the bullpen once this season and is coming off a dreadful 2024 season where he went 3-7 with a 7.10 ERA.
Should Taijuan Walker Close For The Phillies?
Walker pitched exclusively as a starter over his first 10 major-league seasons, which is why he signed a four-year, $72 million contract before the 2023 season. He earned his pay by going 15-6 with a relatively high 4.38 ERA in 2023 while helping Philadelphia reach Game 7 of the NLCS.
But Walker has been off and on since. Though he is the Phillies’ in-house option to start with right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola placed on the 15-day injured list — Nola went on the IL on May 16 with an ankle injury — Hayes feels Walker is best suited to finish games for Philadelphia.
“Their original plan was for Walker to pitch in moderately important spots; to have him ready to pitch as a long reliever, as he did in his two relief appearances, each three-inning outings, and to have him make spot starts as he is doing for Nola,” Hayes wrote “So with the team’s best reliever forbidden from showing his face at the ballpark, and with no real help in sight, manager Rob Thomson clearly hopes he can make some lemonade out of Dombrowski’s lemon.”
Does Rob Thomson Think Taijuan Walker Can Close?
Walker has one save this season in two relief appearances, though he picked up his first big-league save by tossing three one-hit innings while striking out seven in the Phillies’ 7-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on May 7.
The Phillies are tied for 23rd in MLB in bullpen ERA (4.61), even though Strahm has been great and Romano has been better of late (four saves, 13/2 strikeout-to-walk rate, 1.05 WHIP in 6 2/3 innings over his past seven outings). But Walker’s success and stuff have made his manager hopeful that he will be an asset at the end of games.
“I’m really excited to see him come out of bullpen when we put him back there, just to see if his stuff plays up,” Thomson said before the Phillies’ game against the Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday. “The few times he’s come out (of the bullpen), the first one in Tampa was unbelievable, but even the second time out, the first couple innings were really good.
“I’m kind of excited about it.”
Former All-Star Floated as Phillies’ Answer to Jose Alvarado Void