Nope, it's not that bad. Go to Alpera after Almansa, very nice albergue €7 and then on to Higueruela, stages of about 25km each, or it is if you don't miss an arrow at some point after Alpera, which meant I took 32km to Higueruela. La Roda to San Clemente is great, very easy track, zumo/cerveca stops on the way, I think there is acogida at the halfway village (Minaya) if you really need it. San C to Las P is also not bad, I'm fairly sure it's only 4-6 hours (?25km), and there is some shade. Rather than do Villacañas to Mora, I'd stop in Villanueva de Bogas, where the Valenciano pilgrim I was with last night said he stayed free in municipal acogida. I went from Tembleque to Almonacid de Toledo, where the (fairly horrible, but free) acogida is in the changing rooms of the swimming pool, it's also 10km closer to Toledo than Mora. After leaving Almonacid make sure you follow the Sureste rather than the Levante, as this avoids Nambroca, saving another couple of km, and the coffee in Burguillos de Toledo is fine, and there's virtually no tarmac. I would recommend buying food for the evening at the minimercado in Villanueva, as there is no shop in Almonacid and the Kuki bar [sic] is smokey and not very friendly.
Rather than do Rielves to Escalona, I'd stop in Torrijos where there is acogida municipal, and Torrijos from Toledo is not a bad walk (?30km, but in pleasant countryside once you get out of the suburbs and the quarries). Sadly, I can't help you with Castronuño to Villalazán. It would be sad to miss Toro. Last year I did Siete Iglesias (albergue), Toro, Zamora (albergue) which was quite hard work, especially the last.
Whichever way you go, you'll find lots to enjoy.