Jose Alvarado and how quickly we forget.

Watching my wife get into baseball has been the joy of my life. Baseball has always been my favorite sport, activity, pastime, or any other way to explain it. My wife grew up a Phillies fan but was never super into it. As the years of marriage grew and the hours and hours of baseball with it, she became a massive and well-educated Philadelphia Phillies fan.

Her favorite player by far became Jose Alvarado.

The iconic fire-throwing hefty lefty with a personality that brings just as much laughter to a bullpen as his arm brings heat. “I’m fucking fat.” is a quote that rings out in our house at least once a day. She had never owned a Phillies jersey, but Jose Alvarado was the first player she had ever considered getting one for.

Breaking the news to my wife was brutal, and I was immediately brought back to when I was a kid and my friends who were Yankees fans. We bullied them relentlessly for Arod being a cheater. Not only had Jose Alvarado hurt the Phillies' Bullpen Composition, but it also broke my wife’s heart.

Thanks to Victoria for the beautiful logo.

Even after getting Duran, the Phillies had a couple of clear holes in the bullpen.

There was no clear setup man because of inconsistencies among the three relievers battling for that spot. As good as Matt Strahm was this season (and he was good, to the tune of a 161 ERA+), he was still inconsistent at times. In the last two postseason series, he has allowed 5 earned runs in four and a third innings. The Phillies' acquisition of Duran should have allowed for a devastating combination at the back end of the bullpen. Alvarado hurt the development of Kerkering by forcing him into higher leverage spots all year; at some points this season, closing games for the Phils. It also forced us to watch more Joe Ross and… this man.

He can’t hurt you anymore, Phillies fans.

It is easy to forgive the happy-go-lucky, hefty, hard-throwing Venezuelan-born teddy bear named Jose Alvarado, but don’t forget that his suspension deeply hurt the Phillies. No matter how it got there, he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance.