Following a rough stretch of relief outings, the Boston Red Sox designated pitcher Jorge Alcala for assignment on August 5.
Two days later, on August 7, the St. Louis Cardinals claimed him off waivers, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Former Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom appears to share the same confidence in Alcala that Craig Breslow had when acquiring him from the Minnesota Twins on June 11.
The Cardinals had bullpen openings after their trade deadline moves, including the deal that sent Steven Matz to Boston.
While still in the National League Central race, their postseason hopes are slim — the Brewers lead the division with MLB’s best record, and the Cubs have a strong grip on second place. Alcala is also under team control through 2026, giving St. Louis added bullpen depth for next season.
The right-hander joins the Cardinals with a 6.64 ERA, 46 strikeouts, and 23 walks over 40.2 innings this year. His ERA with the Twins (8.88) was far worse than the 3.31 mark he posted in Boston, where adjustments to his pitch mix helped improve his command.
Cardinals claim recently-DFA’d former Red Sox Jorge Alcala off waivers
The veteran had shown noticeable improvement in Boston compared to his rough first half, but his recent outings made it difficult to keep him on the roster. His August 4 appearance against the Royals proved to be the breaking point — entering in the eighth with an 8-1 lead, he surrendered back-to-back home runs and a double before being pulled.
The Red Sox then turned to Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman to secure what had suddenly become a much tighter game. Those three are key late-inning arms for Boston, and preserving their freshness for the stretch run is critical.
Burning their innings in what should have been an easy win was far from ideal — and in this case, the blame fell squarely on Alcala.
With Boston’s quiet trade deadline and only one bullpen addition, Alcala represented depth the team could ill afford to lose, especially given Matz’s status as a lefty. Fortunately, the Sox expect Justin Slaten to return soon from a lengthy injured list stint, and he should more than offset Alcala’s departure.
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