Phillies’ trio of 2025 PED suspensions raise broader questions about oversight

Performance enhancement drug suspensions have become a thing of stupefaction. They are more irregular now than they once were. The 2025 Phillies, however, face the contrary.

Three members of the 2025 National League East champions, Jose Alvarado, Max Kepler, and Johan Rojas, have all received the suspension over the last calendar year for failed performance-enhancing drug tests. Rojas becomes the most recent after dropping out of the World Baseball Classic as he appeals his 80-game ban.

Alvarado, who threw to a 2.70 ERA and collected seven saves before his suspension in mid-May after taking what was claimed to be a weight-loss pill, was the only in-season loss for the Phillies. It created a major hole in the back-end of the bullpen for the Phils, and when the 30-year-old returned, he was nowhere close to his previous form and was barred from the postseason due to his hiatus. It was an avoidable thorn for the back-end of the Phillies’ bullpen in October.

Kepler and Rojas’ cases are different. Both suspensions arose in the offseason, and neither’s game’s were enhanced.

Kepler, now unsigned, will face an 80-game suspension beginning on Opening Day with a postseason ban after a positive Epitrenbolone test, a drug designed to boost muscle growth, strength, and recovery. Signing a one-year, $10 million prove-it deal last December with the Phillies, he slashed .216/.300/.391 with a .691 OPS and 18 home runs. Kepler showed pops of power at times during the season, but ultimately ended up in a platooned right field with Nick Castellanos.

Rojas, meanwhile, hurts himself and the Phillies with this ban. The 25-year-old did not report to Miami over the weekend with the rest of the Dominican Republic WBC team. He was also fighting for a spot on the Phillies’ Opening Day roster, which looks to fill a backup outfielder role. This hurts the Phillies’ outfield depth. Pedro Leon and Bryan De La Cruz are in camp fighting for a job. If one of Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford, Adolis Garcia, or Otto Kemp gets hurt or significantly flounders, the Phils will have to scramble. Rojas, personally, has struggled to find his footing in the batter’s box at the major league level despite his elite defense. A .633 OPS in 639 career at-bats, and hit just .224 in 2025 before a permanent Triple-A demotion on August 1.

The cumulative effect of these suspensions has created an environment ripe for scrutiny, questioning the clubhouse culture, internal controls, and how such oversights occur. When one player tests positive, it is often framed as an isolated misstep. When three from the same organization face bans within a calendar year, it becomes a pattern, not a coincidence. These off-field issues present a different challenge: internal oversight and accountability. These suspensions carry ethical and reputational consequences around the organization and clubhouse that can linger.

There is also the matter of trust. Trust between players, management, the organization, and the fanbase. PED violations, regardless of intent or explanation, dent that foundation. Each suspension had an effect. Alvarado’s was felt in-season. Kepler’s was reflective. Rojas’ pressures the Phillies’ depth and future. Most significantly, trust is damaged within the organization following this triathlon. At some point, coincidence becomes uncomfortable. And when coincidence is uneasy, leadership is forced into the conversation.

The 2025 Phils, obviously, had a heartbreaking end. But the fallout, even now in March, has forced broader questions about player oversight and organizational culture. The questions persist regardless of the 96 wins. Winning does not insulate an organization from oversight weakness. How proactive are the Phillies in guiding players around supplement use? What safeguards are in place? How quickly are concerns identified and addressed? Those are not questions that will disappear.

The standard and the team’s culture feel fractured. The suspensions of Alvarado, Kepler, and Rojas may ultimately be remembered as individual chapters. But together, they form a narrative that the Phillies cannot ignore.

Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox: