Phillies' reliever Alvarado rejoins team following PED ban, will be eligible later this month
Alvarado was back in Philadelphia before Tuesday night's home game against Baltimore and is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment soon. The Venezuelan left-hander is eligible to return to the big leagues on Aug. 19, but can't pitch in the postseason if the Phillies qualify due to Major League Baseball rules on PED bans.
Philadelphia led the NL East by 1 1/2 games over the New York Mets heading into Tuesday's games.
'I am fully aware that using prohibited substances is wrong and I would never intend to do so because I have always had great respect for the game, my organization, my teammates and the fans, all of whom I want to offer my sincere apologies,' Alvarado posted on Instagram. "I made a mistake and therefore, I have faced the consequences set forth by MLB. Going forward, my focus is on working hard to help the team win.'
Alvarado was suspended on May 18 following a positive test for an external testosterone. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the positive test was caused by a weight loss drug Alvarado took during the offseason.
The Phillies used several players in the closer role after Alvarado's suspension before acquiring Jhoan Duran in a trade with Minnesota for two top prospects last week.
Alvarado had a 2.70 ERA, 25 strikeouts and seven saves in 20 appearances before the suspension. The 30-year-old will lose $4.5 million, half his $9 million salary this year as part of a $22 million, three-year contract he signed in 2023, as a result of the suspension.
Alvarado is 19-26 with a 3.40 ERA in 399 relief appearances and one start over nine major league seasons with Tampa Bay (2017-20) and the Phillies (2021-25). He has 52 saves in 68 appearances and appeared in 21 postseason games over the last three seasons.
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New Team India's Test tour of England: The things done right and the lessons that should be learnt
India's tour of England will be remembered as a success, but beneath the celebrations lies the awareness of a missed chance, a golden opportunity to win an away series in England for the first time since 2007. For this new-look Indian team, it's both a moment of pride and a prompt for introspection and growth. read more It was a memorable series for a new-look Team India, but they return with the feeling of what more it could have been. Images: Reuters/AP On Day five of the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, when Ben Stokes wanted to shake Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar's hands to declare the Test a draw officially, the two Indian batters refused, because they, very rightly, wanted to complete their individual centuries. That was a bold call. But then, Jadeja was seen throwing his hands up in the air and also heard on the stump mic saying to Stokes – 'I can't do anything.' And then, while pointing at the Indian dressing room, it looked like he said something that sounded along the lines of – 'the captain and coach will decide.' If that is indeed what he said, then that was not bold, assertive, or a mark of confidence. We know for a fact that Shubman Gill and the team management had left the decision to either walk off or bat on entirely to the two batters out in the middle. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And that potential dichotomy that we witnessed, in the space of a few minutes, that strange mix, of being bold and also otherwise, sums up India's 5-Test tour of England this time. A tour on which they were really bold at times and almost had the series in the bag by the time the third Test finished, but also a tour on which they could have been somewhat bolder – with their execution of certain plans and their selection calls in particular. It was a tour after all on which they couldn't get their playing combination just right, one in which dropped catches played a big role, but definitely also one where certain playing XI slots were cemented and one in which India's never-say attitude on foreign shores – a priceless quality that has been associated with the team from around 2018 or so and thanks largely to their fast bowling prowess - once again came to the fore. At the end of it all, the series might have been drawn 2-2, but the way it finished, with India drawing the 'undrawable' Test at Old Trafford and then clinching their smallest ever margin of victory by runs in a Test match at the Oval (6 runs, beating the previous record of 13 runs vs Australia at the Wankhede in 2004), it sure felt like a series triumph. India could have and realistically should have won the series, but they also didn't lose it. And winning the last Test by the skin of their teeth will give them the confidence and momentum that this new Team India needs. Also Read | Test cricket touches hearts in ways white-ball formats can't, but are administrators watching? Some pieces did fall in place perfectly and have established templates that will definitely be followed in the future. KL Rahul as confirmed opener is one of them. A proponent of the classic languid style of Test batsmanship, Rahul might have gone into the series as the most experienced Indian batter, but how he would cope with opening the innings on a regular basis in English conditions was something even the most seasoned experts were not entirely sure of. Rahul is a highly intelligent cricketer. His stoic façade and often reserved approach to things might give those who tend to judge books by their covers the impression that he is not cut out to be assertive. His decision to politely decline captaincy of his new IPL team – the Delhi Capitals – might have added to that myth, but that's exactly what it is – a myth. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD KL Rahul made 532 runs in five Tests vs England. Image: Reuters Rahul is not an in-your-face kind of cricketer. He will not charge down the track in a Test match to deposit a fast bowler's delivery over the ropes only to prove a point, but what he will give you is solidity and maturity. And that's what you need at the top of the order. The way he tackled different match scenarios in the series this time, with the bat, spoke volumes about the analytical cricket brain that he possesses. Becoming the first Indian opener in 46 years to accumulate over 500 runs in an away Test series is a statistic that sums up his contribution and also the fact that India have their two new fixed Test openers. Rahul's opening partner, meanwhile, showed us that he has grown tougher mentally. Despite having a rather see-saw series, with the bat and dropping catches which had a big role to play in India losing the Leeds Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal knew the one thing he had to focus on the most was opening the innings for India. He began and ended the series with centuries (101 & 118 – was dropped thrice in his second innings at the Oval) and finished with an average of over 41. He also had scores of 87 and 58, but also two ducks and other scores of 4, 28, 13 and 2. Former India captain Rohit Sharma asked Jaiswal to – 'hang in there and bat long' and though he did manage to do that on a few occasions, the southpaw will be striving for more consistency, especially now that he has the perfect partner at the other end, in Rahul. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD But don't let what was a topsy-turvy kind of series for the youngster take anything away from your appraisal of his gumption, something that has seen him already notch up 6 centuries and 12 fifties in 24 Tests. Yashasvi had already managed to cement his place as a confirmed Test opener well before this series began, but on this tour of England, he showed us once again the temperament that sets him apart and one that belies his very young age (23). Before this series began, I was convinced that it would be baptism by fire for new Test captain, Shubman Gill. And that's exactly what it was. The good news for him and for Indian cricket overall is that he has shown signs of settling into what is probably the most high-pressure job in international cricket. The best thing that Gill did in this series (something he has managed to do earlier as well, especially in the IPL with the Gujarat Titans) was to separate his two roles of skipper and batter. While analysing a series that had a very, very long list of talking points, let us not forget that Shubman, while captaining the India team in what was his first Test captaincy assignment, finished as the highest run-getter of the series, with 754 runs in 10 innings. That's an average of almost 76, with four centuries. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In a series in which the legendary Joe Root climbed up to number two on the list of batters with most Test runs, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Shubman out-scored the former England captain by 217 runs, albeit having played one inning more (Root played 9 innings). While there were several questions asked about his captaincy, especially his tactical acumen, the fact of the matter is that he has managed to deliver a 2-2 series scoreline. Yes, technically India should have had the series in the bag, maybe as early as the Lord's Test itself, but Shubman the captain has more ticks against his name than crosses at the moment, thanks to the final series scoreline. Shubman Gill's outburst against Zak Crawley at Lord's was a rare sighting. Image: PTI It's not easy being a 25-year-old Test captain and Shubman has shown that he is open to ideas on the field, especially when he realises that certain plans are not working. Like we saw on a few occasions in this series, the likes of Rahul and vice-captain Pant will have to play big supporting roles as Shubman finds his feet as Test captain. The main lesson he needs to learn, though, is not to change himself and his temperament radically so as to try and meet other people's standards of a good captain and appease the critics. Some are born to lead, some figure it out, while others fizzle out. Shubman will know that it's the second category that he would want to belong to. As the skipper himself said after the Oval Test – 'I have more clarity where personally I need to work on as a captain.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Though the India Player of the Series Award was given to Shubman, I felt Mohammed Siraj should have (also) been considered, maybe as a joint-recipient (unless the rules state that the opposition coach can name only one player as Player of the Series). The fact that Siraj finished as the highest wicket-taker, with 23 wickets, and bowled almost 186 overs (185.3 - the most in the series) with almost the same intensity behind every delivery and consistently hit good lengths and troubled the best of the English batters and helped India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the final Test to ensure the visitors didn't lose the series should have been enough perhaps for him to be picked by Brendon McCullum. In Pictures | Bumrah vs Siraj: Explore the journey of India's top two pacers after 41 Tests Bumrah played only three Tests and the supporting cast of fast bowlers wasn't consistent with their performances, and yet India managed to draw the series. A huge advertisement again of Siraj's growth as a Test match strike bowler and also a lot to think about for the management in terms of giving him and Bumrah the support they need in the fast-bowling department. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It's an open secret that Washington Sundar is being groomed as the long-term replacement for Ravindra Jadeja. And, in that context, it was good to see the master and the apprentice bat together and bat well. This was also in many ways a rebirth series for Jadeja. It was wonderful to see a player who has been the Number 1 Test all-rounder for three years plus straight, put such a high price on his wicket in tough batting conditions. The fact that he is now the first Indian batter to score 500+ runs in a Test series, batting at Number 6 or lower (going past VVS Laxman's 474 vs WI in 2002) and that he remained unbeaten in four of his ten innings, with an average of 86, shows how successful a series he had with the willow and just why he is India's number 1 all-rounder pick. But the one question that will continue to be asked is – could the team management not have tried out a specialist bowler in place of Sundar, at least in the Oval Test, where the conditions clearly favoured the fast bowlers more? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The one question that simmered in me throughout this series was – why was the team management so intent on having batters till Number 8? I can, of course, understand having a certain batting cushion when playing abroad, but at the end of the day, if you don't take 20 wickets, you won't win a Test match. And with your premier strike bowler being able to play only three of the five scheduled Tests, giving someone like Mohammed Siraj, who once again bowled his heart out for almost 186 overs in the series, the support that he really needed at the other end has to be a big priority. Also Read | Opinion: Bumrah is rarest of rare, but it's time to discuss whether he can pick and choose Test matches True that the management might have thought that three fast bowlers would be enough, but that plan works only when you have three tried and tested match winners. With Mohammed Shami not in the picture currently, India doesn't have a third Test pacer of the quality of Bumrah and Siraj. A fourth specialist fast bowling option, therefore, would have increased the odds of taking opposition wickets. The biggest factor behind Siraj's improvement by leaps and bounds as a Test bowler is consistent selection in the playing XI. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are currently India's two main pacers, especially on overseas tours. AFP The captain explained the decision of not playing a fourth fast bowler at the Oval and instead recalling Karun Nair as a tactical call, but with someone like Arshdeep Singh on the bench, who can produce different angles, perhaps the management could have given him a go? Prasidh Krishna did manage to redeem himself and he needs to work more on his consistency. With Mohammed Shami's return still up in the air, Bumrah and Siraj deserve consistent fast bowling partners such that the pressure on them is not unnatural. India haven't had a quality, Test wicket-taking left-arm seam option since the likes of Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan. So, when you have someone like Arshdeep in your squad, who has established himself as a wicket-taker in limited-overs cricket, shouldn't you unleash him on the opposition as quickly as possible? Instead, the management chose to play all-rounder Shardul Thakur in the Leeds Test, as the fourth seaming option, because he gave them a batting cushion. He contributed a total of 5 runs and 2 wickets. When the conditions are right, Shardul can produce innings that can shape the result of a match, absolutely, but in these conditions, wouldn't another out-and-out fast bowler, capable of generating more consistent speed and that too someone who can create different angles as compared to the other three, have been a more attacking option? Also, if the selectors are picking Abhimanyu Easwaran in a Test squad, he must be played and tried out. Otherwise, it's just plain unfair treatment to someone who has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket (over 7800 First Class runs with 27 centuries) and has consistently shown that he is worthy of a Test call-up. And then there's the Kuldeep Yadav mystery. A left-arm wrist spinner bowler, who is an attacking, wicket-taking option, is not someone you keep on the bench through the series. Not only does it deflate the player's confidence, but it also boosts the opposition's belief in the theory that you are not prepared to try anything out of the box. Washington Sundar, the batter, delivered above and beyond what was expected of him, averaging almost 48 in the series, but he also bowled only 74.1 overs in 4 matches and took 7 wickets. Neither Arshdeep Singh nor Kuldeep Yadav was given a chance in England. Image: Reuters It felt like the team management was convinced that playing as many all-rounders as possible for more batting cushion was the way to go, regardless of the conditions on offer. Sundar did have an impact on the series, especially in the 'miracle at Manchester', but what about the likes of Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy, both of whom played two Tests each? Should Kuldeep have been tried out in place of either of them? Also, think about the message that Kuldeep's non-selection would have sent out. What the world saw was a team that, no matter what, wanted a batter at number 8. And that too didn't help at times, like in the Lord's Test where India failed to chase down a target of 193 and lost by 22 runs. As former India captain Anjum Chopra recently told me, 'Why are we counting Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy as all-rounders only? They are all-rounders, yes, but they are (also) proper batters. With nine (8) batters, if you couldn't close down the game, that is your inability, not the opposition's brilliance.' So, lots to celebrate and also to think about for this new Team India. The best news is that this tour will be chalked down as an overall successful one, and rightly so. But somewhere within them, the Indian players and the coaches will know that it was also a lost opportunity to win a coveted away series in England for the first time since 2007 and, therefore, hopefully, an opportunity to put on their analyst caps and learn some very valuable lessons for the future.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
'Thank God, I didn't face a 90mph bouncer one-handed': Chris Woakes recalls 'terror' of walking out with dislocated shoulder
England's Chris Woakes on day five of the fifth Test. (AP Photo) NEW DELHI: In a finale befitting a blockbuster series, England all-rounder Chris Woakes delivered one of the most courageous moments of the summer — walking out to bat with a dislocated shoulder during a tense chase against India in the fifth and final Test at The Oval. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! With England needing 17 runs and just one wicket remaining, Woakes, officially ruled out of the match on Day 1 due to injury, strode to the crease to a standing ovation. His left arm was strapped tightly in a sling under his sweater. Despite the intense pain — and even more intense pressure — Woakes was ready to face the fury of India's fast bowlers. Ben Stokes press conference: On Mohammed Siraj, Chris Woakes batting with injury, 2-2 result 'The first one was the worst,' Woakes told The Guardian. 'All I had taken was codeine and it was just so sore. Instinct took over – even with my arm strapped down I tried to run as you naturally do. I genuinely worried my shoulder had popped back out again, hence you saw me throw my helmet off, rip the glove off with my teeth, and check it was OK.' He did not face a single delivery. But just being there mattered. 'It was bittersweet in the end. Part of me wondered what it might be like… to see if I could have defended the ball, seen out an over maybe, squeezed a run or carved a four,' he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like When Knee Pain Hits, Start Eating These Foods, and Feel Your Pain Go Away (It's Genius) Read More Undo 'But the other side of it was: 'Thank God I didn't face a 90mph bouncer, one-handed, facing the wrong way around.'' Poll What was your reaction to Chris Woakes walking out to bat injured? Inspired Concerned Impressed Woakes added 10 valuable runs with Gus Atkinson before Mohammed Siraj ended England's hopes with a sizzling yorker to dismiss the latter. Despite the heartbreak, Woakes never considered staying back. 'I'm still gutted, devastated really, that we couldn't get the fairytale. But I never considered not going out there, even if it had been 100 runs still to win.' India clinched the Test by six runs, squaring the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-2. Woakes didn't face a ball — but earned the respect of fans and players on both sides. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
‘No batsman will like it, I heard commentators saying…': Sachin Tendulkar says the buck stops with Mohammed Siraj
Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was full of admiration for Mohammed Siraj's relentless show on the England tour, as he ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the series. Siraj stood up on the big occasions and claimed five-wicket hauls at Edgbaston and the Oval to help India register crucial victories. In Jasprit Bumrah's absence, Siraj stepped up when India needed him most, delivering a game-changing spell at the Oval. With a fifer in the second innings, he ran riot with the old ball and turned the tide in India's favour to help the visitors register a famous win. Sachin Tendulkar heaped massive praise on Mohammed Siraj.(PTI and AP Images) Tendulkar lauded Siraj for his fearless display across the series, noting how his sharp swing consistently troubled the opposition batters and how he impressively maintained his pace even on the final day of the contest. "Unbelievable. Superb approach. I love his attitude. I love the spring in his legs," Tendulkar said. 'For a fast bowler to be constantly in your face like that, no batsman will like it. And the approach he had till the end on the last day, I could hear commentators also saying he bowled around 90mph (145kph) on the last day after having bowled more than 1000 deliveries in the series. That shows his courage and big heart,' Tendulkar said on his Reddit account. Siraj's most definitive effort came on the fifth day of the final Test at the Oval, when his singular grit helped India bowl out England for 367 in a chase of 374. He was named Player of the Match for claiming nine wickets across two innings. Sachin hails Siraj for delivering knockout punches on regular basis The batting icon asserted that Siraj often gets under the radar and doesn't get the credit he deserves, despite regularly delivering the knockout punches on a regular basis. 'The way he started on the last day was remarkable and he has always been instrumental, playing a key role whenever we need him, whenever we want him to deliver that knockout punch, he's been able to do that consistently in the past, and so was the case in this series. The way he picked all those wickets and performed, he doesn't get the credit he deserves,' he added.
