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Alvarez Accepting of New Role
by Joe McDonald, Providence Journal
July 17, 2007
PAWTUCKET - PawSox pitcher Abe Alvarez has become accustomed to the
see-saw ride between the starting rotation and the bullpen. His latest
assignment in the relief role, however, may be a permanent one.
With Red Sox pitching prospect Clay Buchholz now with Pawtucket, and
in the starting rotation along with Jon Lester, David Pauley, Devern
Hansack and Mike Burns, Alvarez needed a place to get some work.
"He's had a couple of years here and he's had some big-league
experience," said Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson. "We want to
see if
there's an opportunity for him to get back to the big leagues in a
serviceable role. It's a point in his career where we know we can run
him out there to start and he'll give us a quality start. But you want
to be in a position to help those guys up the street."
Johnson was quick to point out the abundance of starting pitchers the
Red Sox have in their organization at each level, so this could be a
chance for Alvarez to become more of a specialist. The lefties the Red
Sox have in their bullpen are Javier Lopez and Hideki Okajima, both of
whom have had success this season.
Alvarez, 24, decided recently to tweak his delivery a bit, going back
to something that worked for him while he was a standout pitcher for
Long Beach State. The southpaw met with PawSox pitching coach Mike
Griffin and the two decided to add another weapon to his arsenal
against left-handed hitters, hence the lower side-arm action.
"His numbers are pretty good against lefties anyway," said
Johnson.
"It's kind of an interesting arm slot because he's created a lot
of
swings and misses with it versus left-handed hitters. If he can add
that to his rsum, it just makes him more valuable, and he's really
excited about the bullpen, too."
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