The Jose Alvarado news was crushing for Philadelphia Phillies fans. The team's best reliever was suspended for 80 games without pay after testing positive for PEDs, and even once he returns, he will be ineligible to pitch in the postseason. Despite Alvarado's suspension, the Phillies elected to pass on a reliever, Tayler Scott, who cleared waivers and elected free agency on Tuesday.
In a vacuum, refusing to claim Scott off waivers isn't a massive deal. He had a 5.40 ERA in 17 games for the Houston Astros, struggling enough for the team to DFA him. It's not as if he'd be replacing Alvarado as Philadelphia's closer. Still, with the Phillies' bullpen being a weakness even with Alvarado, it feels as if Scott would've been a player worth taking a flier on, especially when considering how well he pitched last season.
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Phillies pass on opportunity to bolster bullpen
Obviously, Scott has not pitched well this season. In addition to his high ERA, Scott issued 12 walks in just 16.1 innings of work. It's really hard to justify rostering a reliever who has that much trouble throwing strikes, especially when he doesn't have the best stuff in the world. Scott's average fastball velocity is at just 92.0 mph this season.
This season hasn't been good, but Scott isn't far away from being one of the most important relievers in the Astros' bullpen. Last season, the right-hander appeared in 62 games and posted a 2.23 ERA in 68.2 innings of work. Some of that can be attributed to luck as the opposition had a .232 BAbip against him, but still, Scott was a key reliever for the Astros and suppressed hard contact quite well.
Ultimately, the Phillies need arms to simply help them get by until trades for big-name relievers become realistic closer to the deadline. Scott shouldn't be pitching in high-leverage spots, but there's every reason to believe he'd be better than guys like Max Lazar, Carlos Hernandez, and Jose Ruiz, who currently occupy spots in the bullpen.
Even if Scott didn't work out, he likely wouldn't be much worse than the arms the Phillies have rounding out their bullpen, and he's only making the league minimum, so it wouldn't have been a financial burden. Perhaps the Phillies sign him in free agency, but since they passed on him on waivers, that's probably unlikely.