Jose Alvarado
23-Year-Old
2018 Stats
W-L
1-6
ERA
2.39
WHIP
1.11
K
80
SV
8
2019 Projections
2019 Fantasy Outlook
Closers need a couple things: two quality pitches (or one amazing one) and command. Alvarado has two excellent pitches in a fastball that tickles triple digits and a hard, 11-5 breaking ball that batters have a tough time picking up out of his hand. Early in 2018, he lacked the command portion of that equation and had a 14% K-BB rate despite his stuff because he could not hit his spots consistently. That changed midseason and Alvarado had a 28 K-BB% in the second half while holding hitters to a .154 batting average and a .244 slugging percentage. He allowed one home run on the season to the 263 batters he faced, which while fortunate, also speaks to how tough he is for batters to pick up. A few year ago, the club had Felipe Vazquez on the roster and traded him to get Jose Lobaton. They have Vazquez 2.0 here and will not repeat that mistake. As long as the Rays do not try to game the arbitration system, this is their new closer. Read Past Outlooks
Not yet named closer
Manager Kevin Cash would not name Alvarado as the team's closer heading into spring training, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
ANALYSIS
Cash said that he felt "no urgency" to name a closer. There's always a chance Cash will opt to have multiple players share the job based on scenarios. Alvarado seems the most likely candidate to grab hold of the primary role, as he converted eight saves while posting a 2.39 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 across 64.0 innings in 2018. The lefty would remain valuable even in a committee thanks to his impressive ratios.
Cash said that he felt "no urgency" to name a closer. There's always a chance Cash will opt to have multiple players share the job based on scenarios. Alvarado seems the most likely candidate to grab hold of the primary role, as he converted eight saves while posting a 2.39 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 across 64.0 innings in 2018. The lefty would remain valuable even in a committee thanks to his impressive ratios.
Pitching Stats
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Minor League Game Log
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Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2016
-33%
BAA vs RHP
2018
-22%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | Batters | K | BB | H | HR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2016vs Left | .246 | 142 | 35 | 14 | 31 | 1 | ||
| Since 2016vs Right | .164 | 244 | 74 | 24 | 35 | 1 | ||
| 2018vs Left | .215 | 90 | 26 | 10 | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2018vs Right | .167 | 173 | 54 | 19 | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2017vs Left | .298 | 52 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2017vs Right | .156 | 71 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 2016vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2016
-44%
ERA on Road
2018
-24%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2016Home | 3.46 | 0.94 | 51.0 | 11.4 | 3.1 | ||||
| Since 2016Away | 1.94 | 1.32 | 41.2 | 9.3 | 4.3 | ||||
| 2018Home | 2.70 | 0.93 | 33.1 | 12.7 | 3.8 | ||||
| 2018Away | 2.05 | 1.30 | 30.2 | 9.7 | 4.4 | ||||
| 2017Home | 4.82 | 0.96 | 18.2 | 9.2 | 1.9 | ||||
| 2017Away | 1.64 | 1.36 | 11.0 | 8.2 | 4.1 | ||||
| 2016Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2016Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Jose Alvarado compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings). The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
K/BB
2.76K/9
11.3BB/9
4.1HR/9
0.1Fastball
97.4 mphERA
2.39WHIP
1.11BABIP
.290GB/FB
2.24Strand %
77.1%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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2018 Fantasy Outlook
Alvarado's fastball-slider combo had enticed during his rise through the farm system, but he hadn't shown an ability to locate with consistency prior to 2017. The lefty issued walks at a 6.4 BB/9 clip in a 16-game stint at Triple-A and hadn't posted a mark under 4.0 at any level. All of a sudden, Alvarado began hitting his spots and ended up with an above-average walk rate (2.7 BB/9) in his first exposure to big-league hitters. The swing-and-miss came with him to the majors, with Alvarado averaging close to a strikeout per inning, and he induced groundballs 53.7 percent of the time. His FIP was more than a run lower than his ERA at 2.55 -- that was good for 18th among 291 relievers with at least 20 innings. Alvarado was excellent against righties (.193 wOBA), and if Alex Colome is dealt this winter, Alvarado could get a look in the ninth.
More Fantasy News
Picks up eighth save
Alvarado secured his eighth save of the season Wednesday against the Indians, striking out two across a perfect ninth inning.
ANALYSIS
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Secures two-out save
Alvarado allowed a hit but struck out two batters, earning his seventh save in 0.2 innings of work during Sunday's 6-4 win over Cleveland.
ANALYSIS
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Grabs sixth save
Alvarado earned his sixth save in a win over the Braves on Wednesday, firing 1.1 scoreless innings.
ANALYSIS
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Earns fifth save of season
Alvarado worked around a walk with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning of work to earn his fifth save of the season Monday against the Royals.
ANALYSIS
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Notches fourth save
Alvarado allowed no runs on one hit and two walks across 1.1 innings as he picked up the save Monday against the Yankees.
ANALYSIS
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