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Pregame Phillies Notes: Alvarado’s ERA drops, Harper increases throwing distance

José Alvarado’s ERA dropped to 0.63 because of a stat correction this weekend. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire)

DENVER — About 14 hours after launching a two-run missile off the facing of the second deck at Coors Field and raising his OPS to 1.050 since returning to the lineup, Bryce Harper took another step in his return to the diamond on Sunday.

Rob Thomson said he ideally wants Harper to be able to throw accurately from 120 feet if he’s going to play first base. He still has a ways to go before moving out of the DH spot, but every step in that direction is worth noting for Harper, who is just 172 days removed from Tommy John surgery.

José Alvarado entered the weekend with the 38th-best ERA among relievers in baseball this season.

Without taking the mound, he’s since soared up to fourth.

That’s because of a stat correction MLB made on Friday regarding a play that took place more than a week ago, as noted on Sunday by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman. The ball that got past Edmundo Sosa in the eighth inning on May 3 in Los Angeles — a pivotal two-run-scoring play in an eventual 10-6 loss — was changed from a hit for Austin Barnes to an error. It removes two of three earned runs from Alvarado’s line and drops his ERA from an already solid 1.88 to a miniscule 0.63.

Alvarado was already in good position to make the National League All-Star team this year, but dropping his ERA by over a run can’t hurt. Anyway, Alvarado’s stats aside, the ruling reflects where the fault for that particular play should’ve been placed all along. MLB can be quite lenient when it comes to assessing errors, but it seems to have gotten this one right — even if the proper conclusion was reached after many had erased that play, game and series from memory.

Thomson said Sunday was Alvarado’s seventh consecutive day without throwing and that the flamethrowing lefty could resume throwing by the end of the road trip. “He’s feeling a lot better every day,” Thomson said, “so that’s a good sign.”

Partly as a byproduct of Alvarado’s absence (and partly due to a few unavailabilities in the bullpen), Jeff Hoffman took down a high leverage inning for the Phillies on Saturday. He allowed an unearned run, which Thomson noted shouldn’t even have scored because Trea Turner botched a line drive to lead off the inning. (“It was a bullet, but you should still catch it. It’s the big leagues.”)

Thomson commended Hoffman’s outing before Sunday’s game, acknowledging that while he does have Major League experience, “I’m not sure in that spot. Two-run lead in the eighth inning against the team you got drafted by, with six days off.”

Perhaps his new slider is to thank.