Jorge Alcala is Fighting the Battle to Win the War

When the Minnesota Twins traded closer Ryan Pressly to the Houston Astros for Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino, it was the outfielder seen as a bit more of the prize. Alcala has bided his time and survived a handful of arm issues to now have this moment. Hoping this would be the year for him, he has surpassed all expectations

Throwing 1 2/3 innings during the first game of Sunday’s Father’s Day doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics, it was Alcala that Rocco Baldelli called on following 6 1/3 strong innings from starter Bailey Ober. The fireballer worked around a single hit while grabbing another strikeout and pushing his ERA down to 1.99 on the year.

Outside of just the injury issues, inconsistency has held back Alcala’s career. As he has worked to get the arm healthy in recent seasons, finding and keeping the zone was something that Baldelli touched on again this spring. With 12 walks in 22 2/3 innings this year, it’s still not entirely there, but keeping the ball in the yard and missing bats has never happened to this level for the Dominican native.

As has become the Twins' modus operandi, velocity was added to Alcala’s bag for 2024. Averaging 96 mph last season, it wasn’t as though the outcome was unexpected, but he is now sitting near 98 mph and touching triple-digits. At his previous best, Alcala was a capable big league reliever during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In those years, the velocity sat where it is now, but the top end of it was not the same.

Pairing the velocity with a slider producing plenty of bite, he’s back to generating chases and whiffs from opposing batters. A career-low whiff rate is aiding heavily into keeping the ball in the yard, and for a guy still dealing with a decent amount of traffic, that’s a good thing.

For Alcala, the emotional and mental growth this year must also be noted. Despite being among the Twins best pitchers out of the bullpen to start the season, he had been used in curious fashion. For a guy who has dealt with such significant arm issues, it was odd seeing him go multiple innings and racking up pitch counts. Options to St. Paul happened seemingly out of nowhere, and he was forced to work through a reality that his role was constantly in flux.

Currently on a run of 11 2/3 innings over ten appearances, while just allowing a single run, he’s putting it together. Still, his 11/6 K/BB in that duration is what Baldelli has cautioned about. Suppose traffic is only coming from free passes though, and Alcala is consistently able to dominate whoever steps in the batter’s box. In that case, the opportunities for him to contribute will remain.

The Twins aren’t at a place where they should consider Alcala among the group of Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran, or a healthy Brock Stewart, but having a reliable middle-inning reliever with upside is something the pen has been short on. Even a slight decrease in the walk rate will put Alcala up to another level.