The Phillies’ Answer To Jose Alvarado’s Suspension Is Jordan Romano

The 80-game PED suspension of Phillies closer Jose Alvarado on Sunday has left a hole the size of Delaware in the Philadelphia bullpen.

The immediate reaction from the Philly fan base is panic: Make a trade right now! Throw a prospect package at a middling team and get a closer! Get Mason Miller (A’s)! Get Ryan Helsley (Cardinals)!

Pump the brakes, Phillies fans. And how ‘ bout taking a breath? Good. Feel better?

This bullpen drama could resolve itself with one specific player: Jordan Romano.

Romano suffered through an injury-marred 2024, leading to his departure from Toronto and eventual discount-bin signing by the Phils, who pegged the two-time all-star to end games.

Romano squandered the closer’s role in Philly and got demoted to mid-innings relief after a nauseating 12.19 ERA through April. But his May has been sensational, pitching to a 0.00 ERA, with a 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 7 innings this month. And even before Alvarado’s suspension, Romano seemed to have regained the trust of Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who began slotting Romano back into high-leverage spots.

A lights-out Romano would be the best salve to losing Alvarado. Lest we forget that Romano was a dominant closer more than Alvarado ever was, wielding a checkmate slider to rack up 95 saves from 2021-23. Romano’s slide-piece looks to be back, slashing through the zone and earning PitchingNinja cred:

In the meantime, the Phillies hope lefty Tanner Banks can do a sufficient enough job to support the high-leverage guys — Romano, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering — while Alvarado is gone. But Banks is not a permanent solution.

Alvarado’s suspension lasts till mid-August, and here’s what really stinks: He’ll be ineligible for postseason. That’s the Phillies’ biggest concern: having an iffy bullpen for a playoff run.

But if all goes according to plan — and, yes, it always does! — the team could upgrade the ‘pen for the playoffs with two big weapons that are already on the roster: Ranger Suarez and Andrew Painter.

After missing the first month of the season with a back injury, Suarez has returned to the rotation and has cranked out a couple quality starts. But there was a time when Suarez flourished in a relief role in 2021, and he earned the save in the final game of the 2022 NLCS. So it seems obvious to dispatch Suarez back to the bullpen come Red October.

Painter — the team’s most hyped prospect since Cole Hamels — is currently on a minor-league rehab assignment after missing two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and is expected to make his MLB debut in July. His sizzling 99-mph fastball would be perfect in a late-inning role.

And until the trade deadline expires, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will hunt for a bullpen upgrade — and maybe he swings a whopper of a deal for Miller or Helsley. But if he doesn’t, there’s still no reason to panic… not just yet.