José Alvarado is ‘happy to be back with my teammates’ after Phillies reinstate the reliever

Phillies reliever José Alvarado was reinstated from his 80-game suspension and added to the 26-man roster on Tuesday, the team announced. As a corresponding move, reliever Nolan Hoffman, who made his big league debut on Monday night against the Seattle Mariners, was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Left-handed pitcher Josh Walker, who has pitched for Lehigh Valley since early June, was designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.

Alvarado was suspended without pay on May 18 after testing positive for exogenous testosterone, a performance-enhancing drug, according to Major League Baseball. He is not eligible for the postseason as part of the suspension.

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“It’s hard,” Alvarado said of his postseason ineligibility. “It’s hard because I know I want to be there. But that happened and I’m here to try to do my best. To try to put everything I can for [the team to] win a lot of games.”

At the time, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he believed Alvarado did not take the substance knowingly. Dombrowski said Alvarado took a weight loss drug during the offseason which led to his positive test.

“The system is very stringent, in the sense that you’re responsible for what goes into your body,” Dombrowski said on May 18. “That’s what it really comes down to. And so I know what he was doing. He was trying to take a weight loss reduction.

“He’s always been self-conscious of his weight, he’s been working hard on it, and something he took gave [him] a positive [test] result. But ultimately, it’s a situation where if that happens, you’re still responsible.”

Alvarado left town without discussing the suspension, even to his Phillies teammates. He broke his silence on Aug. 5, when he returned to Citizens Bank Park to be with his team.

He said in a statement posted to Instagram on Aug. 5 that he “made a mistake” taking the substance and apologized.

“I watched my team every day,” Alvarado said in the post. “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.”

Alvarado, who went to Venezuela during his suspension, pitched five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and four walks with four strikeouts during a rehab assignment at triple-A Lehigh Valley to prepare for his return.

The left-handed pitcher rejoins the Phillies with a 2.70 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and seven saves across 20 innings this season. He said on Tuesday afternoon that he was unsure of how he would be received by fans, but added that he is “ready for everything.”

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“I feel so good,” the reliever said. “I’m happy to be back with my teammates.”

Manager Rob Thomson said he is going to try to ease Alvarado into the high-leverage spots he is accustomed to, but might be forced to use him in those situations sooner rather than later.

“It’s just another high leverage arm,” Thomson said. “I’m going to ease him in. Try to ease him in. Can’t promise that. But yeah, just a great arm, lot of energy, brings a lot of energy to table in that clubhouse.”

Starter Zack Wheeler, who underwent a “thrombolysis procedure to remove a blood clot in his right upper extremity” on Monday morning, was at home resting when Thomson spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon.

Thomson said he texted with the pitcher after his procedure on Monday.

“I texted him right before the game, I guess, just to see how he’s feeling,” Thomson said. “Said he’s feeling great. He’s at home resting now.”

Andrew Painter will make his 22nd start of his minor league season on Friday. Painter, the Phillies’ top pitching prospect, has a 5.31 ERA through 81⅓ innings pitched (17 games) for Lehigh Valley this season, and a 5.15 ERA across 92⅔ innings pitched for triple A and low-A Clearwater combined. … Nick Castellanos has not spent much time in the seventh spot in the batting order this season, but was there on Monday and Tuesday night. Thomson said he wanted to break up the righties and lefties, and commended the rightfielder for his at-bats of late. … Phillies lefthander Jesús Luzardo (11-6, 4.21 ERA) will start opposite Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (8-6, 3.48) in Wednesday’s series finale at 1:05 p.m.