After a string of brutal appearances in relief, the Boston Red Sox designated pitcher Jorge Alcala for assignment on August 5.
The St. Louis Cardinals claimed him off waivers on August 7, first reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom must see what Craig Breslow saw when he traded for the righty from the Minnesota Twins on June 11.
The Cardinals had a few vacancies in their bullpen after their trade deadline moves, one of which sent reliever Steven Matz to the Red Sox. They're not fully out of the postseason chase in the National League Central, although it would be an uphill battle to make it at this point — the Brewers have a firm hold on first place with the best record in MLB, and the Cubs seem like a lock for second. Alcala is also under contract in 2026, so he deepens the Cards' bullpen next season, as well.
Alcala brings a 6.64 ERA, 46 strikeouts and 23 walks over 40.2 innings to St. Louis' pitching staff. His ERA with the Twins (8.88) is much higher than his 3.31 metric with the Red Sox, who refined his arsenal and helped him find a bit more command.
Cardinals claim recently-DFA'd former Red Sox Jorge Alcala off waivers
The veteran did improve significantly with Boston compared to the rough first half of his season, but his latest appearances made it hard to justify keeping him. His August 4 outing against the Royals was the final straw for the Red Sox — he entered in the eighth inning with an 8-1 Boston lead and gave up back-to-back homers and a double before he was quickly yanked. The Red Sox turned to Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman to finish out the suddenly much closer game. Wilson, Whitlock and Chapman have been some of the most critical, late-inning arms in the Sox's bullpen, and they need to be as fresh as possible down the stretch. Wasting innings in games that shouldve been blowouts is far from ideal and, in the case of August 4, entirely on Alcala.
After the Red Sox's lackluster trade deadline and lone bullpen addition, Alcala was depth they couldn't really afford to lose, especially since Matz is a lefty. Fortunately, Boston expects Justin Slaten back in action soon after a long stint on the injured list, and he should more than make up for the loss of Alcala.