Latest news with #Alcala
Newsweek
07-08-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Red Sox Lose 100 mph Reliever to Rival Club For Nothing
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Red Sox bullpen has been one of the best in baseball, with a collective 3.38 ERA ranking Boston relievers fifth overall and third in the American League. Their 1.25 WHIP ranks eighth in MLB, and opposing hitters have managed just a .226 batting average against the Red Sox 'pen, good for third overall. But in June, chief of baseball operations Craig Breslow thought the bullpen needed help, so he swung what at the time seemed like a low-risk, high-upside deal, swapping low-minor league infielder Andy Lugo to the Minnesota Twins for seven-year veteran bullpen power arm Jorge Alcala. WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 05: Jorge Alcala #71 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after the final out of the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 5, 2025 in Washington, DC.... WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 05: Jorge Alcala #71 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates after the final out of the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. MoreLess than two months later, Alcala is gone to the St. Louis Cardinals and in return the Red Sox received — nothing. The 30-year-old Alcala started off his brief Red Sox career in promising fashion. In his Red Sox debut June 18, he pitched a scoreless inning against the Seattle Mariners, topping out at 99.7 mph with his four-seam fastball. He would later go on to reach 100.3 mph in Red Sox uniform, as he held opponents to just one earned run over his first 11 outings for an 0.87 ERA. It looked like the Red Sox had made a real find, while surrendering only a long-shot prospect who was not ranked in the organization's top 30. And then, for reasons that remain unclear, Alcala began to falter. After a disastrous outing against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday in which Alcala allowed three hits including two home runs for three runs while recording only one out, Breslow and the Red Sox had seen enough. They designated Alcala for assignment. More MLB: Red Sox Whiff on Trade For 36-Year-Old Righty Who Was Drafted 3 Times When a player is DFA'd, he goes on the waiver wire where any other team can simply claim him outright. Prior to 2019, waivers were revocable, meaning that if a team claimed a player, his original team could "revoke" his waivers and try to arrange a trade. But that rule was changed. Waiver claims since then have been "outright," meaning any team that places a player on waivers risks losing that player for nothing. That is exactly what happened with Alcala, who now joins one of the Red Sox' longest-standing interleague rivals. In regular season play, the two teams have each won 14 games. But more importantly, of the 13 World Series in which the Red Sox have appeared since 1903 — when, under the name Boston Americans, they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series ever played — four have been against the Cardinals, more than against any other team. The Red Sox lost in seven games to the Cardinals in 1946 and again in 1967. But in 2004, the Cardinals were the opponent when the Red Sox won their first World Series championship since 1918, in a four-game sweep. The two franchises met again in 2013, when the underdog Red Sox sent the Cardinals home in six games. More MLB: Red Sox' Shocking Offer Revealed For Twins' Joe Ryan At Trade Deadline
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Red Sox righty (who reached 102 mph at 20) regained ‘confidence' after trade
BOSTON — Jorge Alcala's ERA has improved by more than two runs since the Red Sox acquired him in a trade with the Twins on June 11. 'I think I just lost a little bit of confidence before,' Alcala said through translator Daveson Perez. 'Now my confidence is definitely higher than it was working with the pitching coaches here. And their philosophy of attacking the strike zone has helped me a lot, too.' Alcala has allowed just one earned run in 10 ⅓ innings (0.87 ERA) in 11 outings for Boston. That's vast improvement from the 24 earned runs in 24 ⅓ innings (8.88 ERA) he gave up in 22 outings with Minnesota to begin the season. The Red Sox saw his potential, evidenced by his 3.24 ERA in 58 ⅓ innings last year. The 29-year-old righty's success starts with velocity. Alcala has reached 100.3 mph with his fastball as a member of the Red Sox. The Dominican Republic native hit triple-digits for the first time during his age 19-20 season in 2015. He then was pitching for the Dominican Summer League and hit 102 mph, he said. 'I didn't notice at the time when I did it,' he said. 'But they told me after and even the newspapers in the Dominican wrote about it. I was like, 'Oh, wow.'' However, it's not the elite velocity that has led to his turnaround with Boston. It's his breaking ball, which manager Alex Cora keeps mentioning. 'Good fastball. The breaking ball is real,' Cora said after Alcala's first outing June 17 in Seattle. 'Obviously the velocity catches your attention but the breaking ball is good,' Cora said after one of Alcala's most recent outings. 'It's really good.' But which breaking ball is Cora talking about? Alcala throws both a slider and curveball. 'I think the curveball right now is the best one for me,' Alcala said. 'Just continuing to work on it. Obviously I have the fastball there. But you have to mix it up sometimes.' It's clear the Red Sox really liked Alcala's curveball when they traded for him and knew he would have success if he threw it more often. His slider was his second most used pitch behind his four-seam fastball with Minnesota but it got hit hard. Opponents batted .389 against it. His curveball was his third-most used pitch and hitters were batting just .143 against it. The Red Sox have dramatically shifted his pitch selection, reducing slider usage from 21.8% to 8.2% while more than doubling his curveball usage from 15.1% to 32.7%." Control was also an issue. His 6.8% walk percentage with Boston is down from 13.2% with Minnesota. 'I heard Bails (pitching coach Andrew Bailey) and Tek (game-planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek) the other day talking about catcher's setups with him,' Cora said. 'Kind of start right in the middle and then go to the edges. That probably is helping him right now. I'm not 100% sure what they were doing in Minnesota. Obviously they have a great pitching program over there and they're really good at what they do. But that's something from the get-go we told our catchers - do this and hopefully we can get ahead and then we go to the edges.' Cora said he wants to put Alcala in more higher-leverage situations. 'That makes me really happy that they have that trust,' Alcala said. 'Just waiting for my moment to go out there and pitch and do what I can for this team.' BETTING: Red Sox moneyline is +110 on Caesars for Thursday's game versus the Cubs. Our comprehensive list of the best Massachusetts sportsbook promos will help you find a sportsbook to use. More Red Sox coverage With two weeks before trade deadline, here's what we're hearing on Red Sox MLB commissioner lays out Boston's chances of hosting another All-Star game (report) Players had 'no clue' about crazy All-Star Game tiebreaker, then ex-Red Sox slugger won it Ex-Red Sox players: Traded starter has 3.55 ERA, Rafael Devers batting .202 Red Sox rival agrees to sell team after pressure from MLB commissioner (report) Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
MN Twins Trade Struggling Reliever for Exciting Young Infield Prospect
The Minnesota Twins have practiced a certain level of insanity with regards to their usage of relief pitcher Jorge Alcala in recent seasons. He was extremely effective for through the first half of the 2024 season, while the Twins inexplicably demoted and promoted him multiple times. But since his downfall started in August of last year, and as it continued into 2025, the Twins decided to stand by the 29-year-old righty. For a pitching staff that needs to step up while both Pablo Lopez and Zebby Matthews are on the injured list, Alcala has taken a step back. Minnesota Twins trade Jorge Alcala to Red Sox Then on Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers, Alcala gave up 5 earned runs on 5 hits in 1.2 innings pitched, which was finally the straw that broke Derek Falvey's back. Wednesday, following the Twins' first win in four games, Jorge Alcala was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Class A infielder, Andy Lugo. This season with the MN Twins, Alcala posted a terrible 8.88 ERA (5.42 FIP) across 22 appearances (24.1 IP). The 10.4 K/9 is a career-high but he's walking a ridiculous 5.5 batters per nine innings and still serving up plenty of dingers. Advertisement The writing was on the wall for Jorge Alcala as soon as the Twins claimed lefty reliever Joey Wentz off waivers on Wednesday afternoon, after he was DFA'd by the Pittsburgh Pirates. They put Pablo Lopez on the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man spot. Related: Minnesota Twins Claim Pirates Pitcher Off Waivers The Minnesota Twins could not have demoted the seven-year veteran without clearing some serious hurdles. He is out of minor league options, and due to his accrued service time he could have rejected an assignment to Triple-A. He also is playing on a $1.5 million contract this season and would have been unlikely to be claimed on waivers. Rather than gamble on the intentions of others teams through the waiver process, Derek Falvey acted in his best interest and swung a trade and even got the Red Sox to pick up all of Jorge Alcala's remaining salary. This deal also closes the door on the Ryan Pressly (for Alcala and Gilberto Celestino) trade from the Houston Astros. Who is Andy Lugo? In return for their nearly 30-year-old Dominican relief pitcher, the Minnesota Twins received 21-year-old Dominican corner infield prospect, Andy Lugo, who joined the Boston Red Sox organization in 2022, at 18 years old. Advertisement He'll likely join the Twins high-A affiliate in Cedar Rapids. Should you be excited about Lugo? That depends on how much you like bat flips… So far this season at single A Greenville, Lugo has hit .265 with a .758 OPS. He has impressive speed and power, racking up 11 doubles already this season, to go with 4 home runs and 20 RBI. In his minor league career, Lugo is slashing a very competent .279/.344/.430. Related Headlines
CBS News
12-06-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Red Sox acquire reliever Jorge Alcala from Twins to help bolster bullpen
The Red Sox acquired reliever Jorge Alcala from the Minnesota Twins Wednesday night in hopes the hard-throwing righty can help bolster the Boston bullpen. The 29-year-old Alcala is a seven-year MLB veteran who has spent his entire career with Minnesota. He turned in a solid 2024 season when he had a 3.24 ERA, held opponents to a .190 batting average, and struck out 58 over 58.1 innings. But he's struggled with his command this season, and currently owns an 8.88 ERA while opponents are batting .302 against the reliever. The Twins decided to move on from Alcala after he allowed nine runs over two innings in his last two relief appearances. He surrendered six runs (five earned) off five hits (including a homer) over 1.2 innings in a 16-4 loss to the Rangers on July 10, which was Alcala's final appearance for Minnesota. For his career, Alcala owns a 4.32 ERA with 193 strikeouts over 187.2 innings. All 166 of his appearances have come out of the bullpen. Alcala's go-to pitch is his fastball, which he throws 44 percent of the time and averages 97.1 mph on the radar gun. Opponents are hitting just .205 off that pitch this season, according to Baseball Savant. He's also had success with his curveball, holding opponents to a .143 average with the pitch, but he's only thrown the pitch at a 15.1 percent clip this season. Alcala has run into issues with his slider though. He's thrown it 21.8 percent of the time this season, with opponents hitting .389 off the pitch. Opponents hit just .204 off his slider last season, so the Red Sox are hoping a change of scenery will get him back to his 2024 form and give Alex Cora another arm to help an already overworked bullpen. Red Sox relievers have already tossed 266.1 innings this season, which is the fifth-most in the Majors. Righty Greg Weissert has already made 33 appearances, tied for the second-most in baseball, while Brennan Bernardino is tied for 16th with 31 turns out of the Red Sox bullpen. Garrett Whitlock's 33.2 innings are tied for the eighth-most in baseball. Boston sent infielder/outfielder Andy Lugo to the Twins in return for Alcala. Lugo signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2021, and played in 44 games for High-A Greenville this season. Right-handed pitcher Brian Van Belle was designated for assignment to make room for Alcala on Boston's 40-man roster.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Motorcyclist killed in South Bay crash identified
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A motorcyclist killed in a crash last week in Chula Vista has been identified. Josue Calderon Alcala, 47, of Chula Vista, was announced as the deceased, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. On the evening of April 16, authorities say a blue 2006 Kawasaki ZX-6R was traveling eastbound on East Orange Avenue when the rider hit the passenger side of a black 2023 Audi Q3 that was making a southbound turn on to Max Avenue from westbound East Orange. The motorcyclist, Alcala, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver of the Audi, a 34-year-old pregnant woman from Chula Vista, and one-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries. The manner of the crash was determined as an accident, medical officials confirmed. A GoFundMe has been set up for Alcala. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
