Look, bullpen beggars can’t be choosers.
Who is he and where did he come from?
He’s Jorge Alcala and he hails from Bajos de Haina, a suburb of Santo Domingo that is infamous for being one of the most polluted cities in the entire world. Due to an almost complete lack of environmental legislation to regulate the city’s host of metallurgic and chemical plants, the residents of Haina suffer from the highest level of lead poisoning on the planet. Thanks to public protests and grassroots organization, the residents of the city finally forced the closure of a car battery smelter that was one of the main sources of the pollution and subsequent remediation efforts coordinated by a series of inter-governmental organizations and NGOs have significantly improved public health in the city. But the waterways of Haina remain strewn with garbage and industrial waste, even after YouTuber Mr. Beast coordinated the removal of nearly 30 million pounds of trash from what was known as the world’s dirtiest beach.
Haina is the birthplace of a number of MLB players past and present, and was once the home of David Ortiz for a period during his childhood. Big Papi recently returned to the city earlier this year to attend memorial services for the 25 residents from Haina who tragically died in April’s Jet Set nightclub disaster.
After signing with the Astros out of Haina as a teenager, Alcala was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2018. He debuted with the Twins the next season and pitched in 166 games for Minnesota over the next six years. He was on the cusp of being DFA’d by the Twins this week when the Sox acquired him in a trade, sending high-A infielder Andy Lugo the other way.
What position does he play?
He’s a right-handed relief pitcher.
Is he any good?
As I said, he was about to be DFA’d by the Twins, and for good reason. 2025 has been disastrous for Alcala so far, as evidenced by his 8.88 ERA and the fact that he allowed eight earned runs over his last two appearances. But there is hope.
Alcala has big fastball that averages 97.1 MPH — that’s harder than anyone currently in the Red Sox bullpen save for Aroldis Chapman. For most of his career he’s been a fastball-slider guy, though he’s thrown his sinker a lot more this year, despite the fact that hitters have slugged .909 against it (not a typo).
As recently as last year, Alcala was an effective setup man, posting a 129 ERA+ in 54 games. And while he’s always struggled to limit walks, he excels at limiting hard contact. Moreover, his underlying metrics suggest he’s been extremely unlucky this year:
Second most “unlucky” pitcher in 2025 (min 100 PA) pic.twitter.com/h7kBxH8KW0
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) June 12, 2025
Tl;dr, just give me his 2025 stats.
24.1 IP, 29 H, 15 BB, 28 K, 5 HR, 8.88 ERA, 5.42 RIP
Show me a cool highlight.
Let’s cleanse the palate after looking at those 2025 stats by checking out his 2024 highlights:
What’s he doing in his picture up there?
Pointing to the only direction his numbers can go from here.
What’s his role on the 2025 Red Sox?
That will depend on whether he’s able to turn his 2025 performance around. The Red Sox bullpen is already gassed and it’s only June, so a fresh arm is always welcome. Alcala has been a good big league reliever in the past and if he can find that form again, he might stick with the team for the rest of the season. Here’s hoping.