Jorge Alcala

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Minnesota Twins #14 prospect in 2021
  TRACK RECORD: The Astros signed Alacala as an 18-year-old in 2014 and helped him gain nearly 10 mph on his fastball before flipping him to the Twins in a trade for Ryan Pressly in 2018. After struggling as a starter, Alcala transitioned to the bullpen in late 2019 and he posted a 2.64 ERA over 24 innings in the majors in 2020.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Alcala threw four pitches as a starter but now primarily works with two pitches. His plus-plus fastball averages 97 mph and touches 100 mph, while his firm, upper-80s slider generates frequent swings and misses and is a plus pitch. Alcala occasionally throws a firm changeup that has less drop and more armside running action than average changeups, but he only uses it around 10% of the time. Alcala has plenty of athleticism on the mound, but his body control and overall strike-throwing are questionable and erratic.
  
  THE FUTURE: Alcala has the pure stuff to be a closer. He'll need to refine his control to be consistently trusted in high-leverage situations.
• 
  Ranked Minnesota Twins #17 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: The Astros have a propensity for signing projectable pitchers with fast arms who have been overlooked because they are a little older. Alcala fit that bill perfectly as the Astros signed him as an 18-year-old, helped him gain nearly 10 mph of velocity and then shipped him to the Twins in the Ryan Pressly swap in 2018. With the Twins, Alcala has struggled as a starter. He was moved to the bullpen to see if he could help the team during its playoff run, but he pitched very sparingly in Minnesota in September.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Alcala has a big plus fastball, although it was more often in the mid-90s in 2019, down a tick from the high-90s he's shown in the past. It doesn't have elite spin or movement, but if he's throwing strikes, it still has enough hair on it to be effective. His 84-87 mph power slider has modest depth. Alcala has a problem with limiting damage in big innings. Once he gets in trouble, he struggles pitching from the stretch (opponents hit .306 against him with runners on). Alcala has shown flashes of having an average or even above-average changeup, but it's not a pitch he can regularly rely on.
  
  THE FUTURE: Alcala continues to need to improve his below-average control to start or be an highleverage reliever, but he should pitch in Minnesota in 2020.
• 
  Ranked Minnesota Twins #16 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: Acquired from the Astros along with center fielder Gilberto Celestino in the Ryan Pressly trade last July, Alcala suffered a neck strain in his final outing before the deal and was never fully healthy in his brief Twins debut.
  
  Scouting Report: Signed as a late-blooming 18-year-old, Alcala has seen his fastball velocity jump from 90-92 as a teen to as high as 102 mph, although he pitches at 92-98 mph with late explosion. His electric arm works well with excellent arm speed, but he sometimes gets out of sync with his twitchy delivery. His changeup is solid-average and he throws two distinct breaking balls, including an 88-90 mph slider that sometimes flattens out and a curve that flashes plus but often lacks precision.
  
  The Future: Worst case, Alcala could land in the back of the bullpen, but the plan is to keep developing him as a starter with mid-rotation projection. He has yet to reach 110 innings in a season and won’t be Rule 5 eligible until December 2019, so starting him back at Double-A would make sense.
• 
  Ranked Houston Astros #8 prospect in 2018
  Astros signed Alcala as a late-blooming 18-year-old. He sat 90-92 at that point, but since then his velocity has improved by leaps and bounds, He's still making up for lost development time as the 22-year-old has less than 200 pro innings. Alcala's fastball ranges from 93-99 mph. He generally sits in the mid-90s and has touched 100-102. His slider and changeup are both much less refined, but the quality of his fastball allows them to play up. His slurvy slider will flash average mainly because it's 88-90 mph and it has some modest late break. His below-average changeup doesn't move much, but when he maintains arm speed and throws it with conviction, hitters have a hard time gearing down from 100 to 87-88. Right now he just doesn't always maintain his arm speed. If Alcala could refine one of the two offspeed pitches into a two-strike weapon, he'd shorten his innings significantly, as right now he can't finish hitters off if they can foul off his fastball. Alcala's control needs to improve, but he did show strides improvement with that in 2017, especially when working out of the stretch. Alcala is another flame-thrower in the Jorge Guzman/Albert Abreu mold--the Astros had success developing and then trading Guzman and Abreu in recent years. It's easy to see Alacala eventually ending up in the bullpen, but with physicality, athleticism and a delivery with no glaring issues, he'll keep trying to stick as a starter.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Carolina League #19 prospect in 2017
  The Astros sent a stable of high-end arms through Buies Creek in 2017, including 2016 first-round righthander Forrest Whitley, since-traded righty Franklin Perez and Cuban lefthander Cionel Perez. The most unsung was Alcala, a live-armed righthander. Alcala starts his arsenal with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and can reach up to 99 mph with armside life when he gets it down in the zone. If he leaves it up, the pitch straightens and he can get hit. He complements his fastball with an above-average changeup in the 86-90 mph range with excellent sinking action in the lower realms of that velo band. He can throw it too hard on occasion and it will flatten as a result. Alcala also throws a slider in the mid- to upper 80s that serves as his third pitch. Like most of the pitchers at Buies Creek, Alcala was used as both a starter and a reliever as part of the Astros' piggybacking system. Like most young starters, Alcala needs to refine his command and work on repeating his delivery. Particularly, he doesn't always get all the way over his front side and can leave balls up as a result.

• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: The Astros signed Alacala as an 18-year-old in 2014 and helped him gain nearly 10 mph on his fastball before flipping him to the Twins in a trade for Ryan Pressly in 2018. After struggling as a starter, Alcala transitioned to the bullpen in late 2019 and he posted a 2.64 ERA over 24 innings in the majors in 2020.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Alcala threw four pitches as a starter but now primarily works with two pitches. His plus-plus fastball averages 97 mph and touches 100 mph, while his firm, upper-80s slider generates frequent swings and misses and is a plus pitch. Alcala occasionally throws a firm changeup that has less drop and more armside running action than average changeups, but he only uses it around 10% of the time. Alcala has plenty of athleticism on the mound, but his body control and overall strike-throwing are questionable and erratic.
  
  THE FUTURE: Alcala has the pure stuff to be a closer. He'll need to refine his control to be consistently trusted in high-leverage situations.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: The Astros signed Alacala as an 18-year-old in 2014 and helped him gain nearly 10 mph on his fastball before flipping him to the Twins in a trade for Ryan Pressly in 2018. After struggling as a starter, Alcala transitioned to the bullpen in late 2019 and he posted a 2.64 ERA over 24 innings in the majors in 2020.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Alcala threw four pitches as a starter but now primarily works with two pitches. His plus-plus fastball averages 97 mph and touches 100 mph, while his firm, upper-80s slider generates frequent swings and misses and is a plus pitch. Alcala occasionally throws a firm changeup that has less drop and more armside running action than average changeups, but he only uses it around 10% of the time. Alcala has plenty of athleticism on the mound, but his body control and overall strike-throwing are questionable and erratic.
  
  THE FUTURE: Alcala has the pure stuff to be a closer. He'll need to refine his control to be consistently trusted in high-leverage situations.
• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: The Astros have a propensity for signing projectable pitchers with fast arms who have been overlooked because they are a little older. Alcala fit that bill perfectly as the Astros signed him as an 18-year-old, helped him gain nearly 10 mph of velocity and then shipped him to the Twins in the Ryan Pressly swap in 2018. With the Twins, Alcala has struggled as a starter. He was moved to the bullpen to see if he could help the team during its playoff run, but he pitched very sparingly in Minnesota in September.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Alcala has a big plus fastball, although it was more often in the mid-90s in 2019, down a tick from the high-90s he’s shown in the past. It doesn’t have elite spin or movement, but if he’s throwing strikes, it still has enough hair on it to be effective. His 84-87 mph power slider has modest depth. Alcala has a problem with limiting damage in big innings. Once he gets in trouble, he struggles pitching from the stretch (opponents hit .306 against him with runners on). Alcala has shown flashes of having an average or even above-average changeup, but it’s not a pitch he can regularly rely on.
  
  THE FUTURE: Alcala continues to need to improve his below-average control to start or be an highleverage reliever, but he should pitch in Minnesota in 2020.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: The Astros have a propensity for signing projectable pitchers with fast arms who have been overlooked because they are a little older. Alcala fit that bill perfectly as the Astros signed him as an 18-year-old, helped him gain nearly 10 mph of velocity and then shipped him to the Twins in the Ryan Pressly swap in 2018. With the Twins, Alcala has struggled as a starter. He was moved to the bullpen to see if he could help the team during its playoff run, but he pitched very sparingly in Minnesota in September.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Alcala has a big plus fastball, although it was more often in the mid-90s in 2019, down a tick from the high-90s he's shown in the past. It doesn't have elite spin or movement, but if he's throwing strikes, it still has enough hair on it to be effective. His 84-87 mph power slider has modest depth. Alcala has a problem with limiting damage in big innings. Once he gets in trouble, he struggles pitching from the stretch (opponents hit .306 against him with runners on). Alcala has shown flashes of having an average or even above-average changeup, but it's not a pitch he can regularly rely on.
  
  THE FUTURE: Alcala continues to need to improve his below-average control to start or be an highleverage reliever, but he should pitch in Minnesota in 2020.
• December, 2017 Scouting Report
  Track Record: The Astros signed Alcala as a late-blooming 18-year-old. He sat 90-92 at that point, but since then his velocity has improved by leaps and bounds. Scouting Report: Alcala's fastball ranges from 93-99 mph. He generally sits in the mid-90s and has touched 100-102. His slider and changeup are both much less refined, but the quality of his fastball allows them to play up. His slurvy slider will flash average mainly because it's 88-90 mph and has some modest late break. His below-average changeup doesn't move much, but when he maintains arm speed and throws it with conviction, hitters have a hard time gearing down from 100 to 87-88. If Alcala could refine one of the two offspeed pitches into a two-strike weapon, he'd shorten his innings significantly. Alcala's control needs to improve, but he showed improvement with that in 2017, especially when working out of the stretch. The Future: Alcala is another flame-thrower in the Jorge Guzman/Albert Abreu mold. It's easy to see Alacala eventually ending up in the bullpen, but with physicality, athleticism and a delivery with no glaring issues, he'll keep trying to stick as a starter.