One of the reasons the Phillies have been so good lately is the resurgence of their bullpen. Led by the cast of characters you already know the names of (Robertson, Dominguez, Hand, etc.), they have been able to shut the door on teams when needed, keep games close when called upon and not take a gas can to an already out of control fire that former iterations of this bullpen have done in the past. Jose Alvarado was in the spotlight not long ago when one of the local beat reporters spoke to Caleb Cotham about how, with Alvarado, they were emphasizing to him to throw his best pitch more often:
“I would say (Alvarado) is a strike-creator more than a strike-thrower, and he can create a lot of strikes right outside the zone with the cutter, specifically,” Cotham said.