Alvarado's spring ERA is down to 1.13 ERA over eight outings after he fired a scoreless eighth inning in Sunday's 10-5 Grapefruit League win over the Tigers. He also recorded a strikeout.
He was solid in a bullpen role during his 2017 rookie campaign (3.64 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 29:9 K:BB over 29.7 innings), but he's taken it up a notch this spring, allowing only three hits over eight scoreless frames while also racking up 10 whiffs. Alvarado projects as a valuable left-handed option for manager Kevin Cash in 2018, and his swing-and-miss upside could afford him plenty of high-leverage, late-inning opportunities.