Cubs manager David Ross said Tuesday that Alzolay (hamstring) will serve as a reliever once he's reinstated from the 10-day injured list, Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network reports. "Try to control his innings out of the pen, unless something changes in our rotation," Ross said of his plans for Alzolay for the rest of the season.
Before a left hamstring strain sent him to the IL on Aug. 14, Alzolay had already tallied 106.1 innings on the season, an increase of 85 innings from his 2020 total. With little at stake for the non-contending Cubs over the final month of the season, limiting the 26-year-old's workload makes sense. Even though he faded in his six starts out of the All-Star break with a 6.52 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, Alzolay's solid first-half numbers (4.66 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 9.4 K/9) are probably enough to keep his spot in the rotation fairly secure heading into 2022.