Suspended Phillies reliever José Alvarado says he ‘made a mistake’ taking a banned substance

José Alvarado left town May 18 without talking to even his Phillies teammates, most of whom found out about his failed drug test and subsequent 80-game suspension in a hastily called team meeting.

Eleven weeks later, the disgraced reliever broke his silence.

Alvarado returned Tuesday to Citizens Bank Park, two weeks shy of the end of his ban. He released a 168-word statement on his Instagram page, then addressed the team — “He was short and sweet,” manager Rob Thomson said. He threw in the bullpen, stood alongside teammates for the team photo, then took questions from reporters.

“I watched my team every day,” Alvarado said in English. “It was hard. A couple of moments, I said to my family, ‘This is my time’ [to pitch]. But that happened. I flush the toilet. That’s it. I’m here.”

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Alvarado, eligible to return Aug. 19 but barred from pitching in the postseason, spoke mostly in Spanish. Given the sensitivity of the subject, assistant general manager Jorge Velandia (a fellow Venezuela native) stood in for team interpreter Diego D’Aniello.

Through Velandia, Alvarado said he “apologized to everyone,” notably teammates and Phillies fans, and “takes full responsibility” for testing positive in March for exogenous testosterone. He said not being able to pitch in the postseason is “painful” and “something that I’m always going to carry in my heart.”

Alvarado, who went to Venezuela during his suspension, said he told the Phillies that he took a drug that was intended as weight-loss medication. But it wasn’t clear from the answer or the translation if he informed the team only after learning about the positive test. Alvarado said he tested negative twice after that March test. He didn’t appeal the suspension.

None of that matters much now. Before Alvarado finishes his suspension, the Phillies are allowed to send him on a minor league assignment.

All eyes will be on how he looks upon his return.

In 20 appearances this season, Alvarado has a 2.70 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 20 innings. The average velocity on both his sinker (99.3 mph) and four-seam fastball (99.6) was up considerably from last year, when those pitches averaged 97.8 and 96.8 mph, respectively. He posted a 4.09 ERA in 66 appearances last season and slid out of Thomson’s circle of trusted late-inning arms.

The Phillies must decide whether to pick up their $9 million option on Alvarado for next year or buy him out for $500,000. They could decline the option and try to re-sign him for less than $9 million.

Alvarado was adamant that he didn’t get an artificial boost.

“Only when he was starting to go to tryouts at 14, he only threw slow,” Velandia said in translating Alvarado. “But ever since he got bigger, he’s always been throwing hard. He doesn’t believe whatsoever that whatever he took helped out his performance. He’s always been a hard thrower and a big guy.

“He took that to take some weight off and stuff like that. But at the end of the day he doesn’t think that it helped his performance in any way or shape.”

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Fellow lefty reliever Matt Strahm said Tuesday was the first he heard from Alvarado since before the suspension was handed down.

Alvarado was popular with teammates before this. How will he be received now?

“It’s a situation where you can be the Monday morning quarterback and say how you would’ve handled it, but you don’t know until you’re there,” Strahm said. “We’re all humans. We all handle things differently. It’s good that he stood up in front of everyone and owned up to it and apologized.

“The past is the past. He’s here now, and we have one goal in mind and that’s for him to help us win the division and set us up for the playoffs. We know we don’t have him for the playoffs, but we need him to give us everything he can to get us to where we want to go.”

Through Monday, the Phillies without Alvarado had a 4.33 bullpen ERA, 18th in the majors since May 18. The bullpen’s composition has changed, too. Lefty Tanner Banks has taken on a more prominent role behind Strahm. David Robertson, signed to a prorated $16 million contract on July 20, is getting closer to joining the team.

But the biggest change was the addition of closer Jhoan Duran in a deadline blockbuster with the Twins. Duran hasn’t allowed a baserunner yet in recording two saves for the Phillies.

In time, Alvarado will factor into the mix, at least until the postseason.

“I’m here to show the world what I am, my work ethic, who I am,” Alvarado said. “I accept whatever has happened to me in the past, but I’m always going to take it upon myself to show the fans that I truly am who I am, and I’m very sorry for what happened.”

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Aaron Nola (rib) is scheduled for 60-65 pitches Wednesday in his second triple-A rehab start. … Alec Bohm will report to Lehigh Valley during the Phillies’ upcoming 10-game road trip to continue his recovery from a fractured rib and perhaps play in a few games. … In a swap of righty relievers, the Phillies reinstated Joe Ross from the injured list and optioned Seth Johnson to triple A. Ross, sidelined for two weeks with back spasms, has a 5.28 ERA in 31 appearances; Johnson has a 4.26 ERA in 10 appearances over multiple call-ups. … The Phillies signed relievers Lou Trivino and Jacob Waguespack to minor-league contracts. Trivino, a 33-year-old righty from Montgomery County who pitched in college at Slippery Rock, has a 4.42 ERA in 37 appearances this season for the Giants and Dodgers, including a 3.76 mark for Los Angeles before being designated for assignment on July 21. … Ranger Suárez (8-4, 2.68 ERA) is scheduled to start at 12:35 p.m. Wednesday against Orioles lefty Trevor Rogers (4-2, 1.44).