José Alvarado’s work with a mental skills coach has given him and the Phillies a bullpen boost
Alvarado said that up to his demotion to the minors, he had not committed to working on the mental side of the game. He didn’t think he needed help. Now, he’s committed, and the work is paying off.
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TORONTO — The Phillies sent José Alvarado down to triple A on May 27 with a 7.62 ERA and a lot of thinking to do. It was his first return to the minor leagues — not including rehab assignments — in his six-year career. He was throwing the ball hard, but he wasn’t locating it. At the time he was optioned, he was walking batters at a 22.2% clip, which was higher than his strikeout rate of 19.4%.
He had some things to work on, so he got to work. He fine-tuned his mechanics, his rhythm, and worked on his two-seamer. He increased his cutter usage. But beyond that, for the first time in his career, he started working with a mental skills coach.
While he was in Lehigh Valley, Alvarado’s lawyer connected him with Juan Rodríguez, a coach out of Venezuela who works with athletes. Every morning, Alvarado would take an hourlong session with Rodríguez. He realized that when he was on the mound, he was struggling to just focus on baseball. Instead, he was thinking about his responsibilities — mainly the family back home in Venezuela that he had to support — and how his performance would impact them. He realized that if he just focused on what’s in front of him, the opposing hitter and the target he was trying to hit, everything else would fall into place.
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Rodríguez walked Alvarado through different situations on the mound. They talked about how Alvarado was approaching those situations, especially the high-pressure ones, and came to the conclusion that his mindset had been hurting him more than it was helping him.
“I believe in my talent, and I don’t think I should waste it,” Alvarado said in Spanish. “He’s helped me a lot.”
Alvarado said that up to that point, he had not committed to working on the mental side of the game. He didn’t think he needed help. Now, he’s committed, and the work is paying off. Since Alvarado returned to the big leagues on June 12, he has allowed only two earned runs, both in his first outing back. Since then, he has allowed no earned runs in 11 innings and batters are hitting .150 against him. His ERA with the Phillies this season was down to 4.68 entering Wednesday’s game.
“I think this could be the key that has been giving me success so far,” Alvarado said last week. “Now I know how to get back to where things are good whenever I don’t do well. I’m the same person. I still come in early and work hard every day. I’m more clear on the work I have to do [on the mental side of the game].”
The left-handed reliever is still taking his hourlong classes with Rodríguez and does not plan to stop anytime soon. In retrospect, he sees his demotion to triple A as positive, something that felt disappointing at the time but led him to a change that could unlock his potential.
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There’s still a lot of season left. Alvarado will give up another earned run at some point. But now he feels equipped to handle himself when that does happen. He believes those moments won’t derail him.
“The truth is, it’s a different way of thinking,” he said. “I feel like I’m a different Alvarado. A different version of the Alvarado that you’ve seen this season.”