1. José Álvarez
José Álvarez was acquired in a trade that came out of nowhere from the Angels. The Phillies sent Luis Garcia, who likely to be DFAd despite his back-end upside, for Álvarez. Alvarez is the oldest of the 4 left-handed relievers but is still under 30 for the time being. He impressed last season with a career-best season. He posted a 2.71 ERA, backed up by a 3.82 DRA. While he is unlikely to match that performance, his xFIP has still been under 4 in each of the last 4 seasons, and he fits a LOOGY role comfortably with career splits that favor his ability to get left-handers out.
Álvarez seemingly lucked out a bit last season with the long ball, as only 5.1% of fly balls went for home runs. Although his career numbers in that category are typically below average, playing in Citizens Bank Park will not be nice to that. There’s nothing significant about his underlying stats to make anyone think he will do significantly bad or good next season, but ultimately he ranks as the best left-handed reliever because he has been so consistent over his career. Álvarez represents the safest guy headed into 2019, and although he won’t be Mariano Rivera, filling a much-needed role with his presence can help the team a lot.
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