The Boston Red Sox's streak of seven consecutive wins came to an end on Wednesday night, as the Kansas City Royals spoiled Dustin May's debut with the team. Alex Cora's squad has an off day Thursday before heading out west to San Diego for a weekend series.
Still in sole possession of the AL's first wild card spot, the Red Sox are figuring out who will be with the team for a potential playoff run. It appears that one reliever won't be a part of the team's October plans after a few shaky outings ultimately ended his tenure in Boston.
The Red Sox acquired Alcala from the Minnesota Twins on June 12th, as middle infield prospect Andy Lugo was sent the other way. Not even two months later, Boston has parted ways with the 30-year-old.
Jorge Alcala has been DFA’d and Isaiah Campbell has been brought back up, per @ChrisCotillo.
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) August 5, 2025
After forcing Chapman into some of these games recently, not too surprising. pic.twitter.com/mtqwXD11Hv
RHP Jorge Alcala Claimed 2 Days After Being DFA'd by the Red Sox
Alcala held an 8.88 ERA in 22 appearances with the Twins before being traded to Boston. His struggles in the Twin Cities made it easy for the Red Sox to acquire him, with the hope that pitching coach Andrew Bailey could sure up some mistakes and turn the righty into a valuable bullpen option for the team.
Fans thought Alcala may have turned the corner after he posted a 1.69 ERA in 11 appearances during the month of July, but his struggles in August had left the Red Sox no choice but to show him the door.
There were multiple instances where the Red Sox had more than respective leads (four to five run cushions) in the later innings of games, just to have those leads squandered by Alcala's efforts. In turn, the team would have to use their more valuable bullpen arms in Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock to ensure a win after what could've been a night off.
The most recent example of this came in Alcala's last appearance before getting waived by Boston. On Monday night, the Red Sox had an 8-1 lead over the Royals after a strong start from Brayan Bello (6 innings, no earned runs). Alex Cora turned to Alcala in the eighth inning with a seven-run cushion, which was quickly minimized. After getting just one out in the inning, Alcala was pulled after allowing three hits and three earned runs, including back-to-back home runs to Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia.
It was suddenly an 8-4 game, and the Red Sox had to use Justin Wilson, Whitlock and Chapman to get the final five outs in the contest.
Alcala ends his Red Sox tenure with a 3.31 ERA and one blown save across 19 appearances. It didn't take him long to find a new home, as he was recently claimed by the St. Louis Cardinals. Let's see if the fireballer can survive the rest of the season with the Cards, who are quickly falling out of the NL wild card race after the trade deadline.
For the Red Sox, they recently recalled Isaiah Campbell to take Alcala's place on the roster. In two appearances for the Sox this season, Campbell holds a 6.75 ERA. Red Sox fans hope that Campbell can give the team enough in his outings to avoid any unnecessary appearances from the bullpen's top arms.