Jose Alvarado Injury: Expected back with Phillies in 2026

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Thursday he would be "surprised" if Alvarado (forearm) is not back next season, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

The Phillies have a $9.5 million club option on Alvarado for 2026, and while Dombrowski did not confirm the option would be exercised, it seems that is the most likely scenario. Alvarado served an 80-game PED suspension and also missed time late in the year with a forearm injury, resulting in him appearing in only 28 games. The lefty remained effective when on the bump, posting a 3.81 ERA and 32:7 K:BB over 26 innings. It's not clear whether the forearm issue will affect Alvarado's offseason throwing, but Dombrowski did not mention any health concerns with the reliever moving forward.