If that pushes Alvarez to the bullpen, or if he then is used in tandem with Mikolas or Littell, that could be useful. I trust the management to piece innings together in the best way with the talent they have. Multi-inning guys, openers, bulk guys, etc... They lack enough shut down types.
I think this new swing and miss Alvarez could be a lefty version of Lord. He's almost a 1mph faster on his fastballs. His curveball has so much more bite. His slider is getting clobbered so maybe thats something they can send him down to work on, as its primarily used against lefty hitters. But if/when Irvin is ready to come back, they should send Parker down, and use Alvarez as a reliever.
Herz basically has to the end of the month of his rehab assignment. Unless he has somehow massively improved his control issues, they can just option him until after the trade deadline.
Another thing to consider is that Cade Cavalli only threw like 122 innings last year. A good increase would be around 155-165. Since May he's been averaging about 5.5 innings per start. At that rate, he only has 14ish or so starts left. They could space that out like how the White Sox handled Crochet and have him still make regular starts, but pitch a reduced number of innings/pitches. Would be interesting to see if they could piggy back Herz off his starts. Have Cavalli pitch the first three and then have Herz start a clean inning and throw 2-3 innings.
