It’s hard to know what José Alvarado will look like when he returns to the Phillies on Aug. 19, and that is still the case after Alvarado’s first rehab outing with Lehigh Valley.
That rehab is off to a good start, though. Alvarado struck out two Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders for the IronPigs on Thursday, allowing one hit in a scoreless sixth inning. (He only faced those three batters, thanks to a Garrett Stubbs caught stealing.)
Velocity wise, Alvarado’s stuff was not far off from where it was when he posted a 2.70 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 20 innings before his suspension.