It’s not uncommon to see 98- and 99-mph pitches from Jorge Alcala. Sometimes even 100. But when 101 flashed on the T-Mobile Park scoreboard on Saturday night, it was a ‘wow’ moment from the 28-year-old Twins right-hander.

“Pretty unbelievable,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

But not, apparently, to Alcala, who somewhat downplayed his excitement over the fastest pitch of his career, which was officially clocked at 101.2, per Statcast.

“Very happy,” Alcala said through interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “But the most important thing right now is that I’m feeling healthy.”

That’s something the Twins haven’t seen for a sustained period of time from Alcala in quite a while.

In 2022, Alcala threw just 2 1/3 innings at the major-league level, landing on the injured list with an elbow issue in April and never returning, eventually undergoing surgery. Last year, he threw 17 1/3 innings as he was slowed by a radial stress fracture in his forearm that cost him most of the season.

But the Twins always knew he had the stuff to be a late-inning reliever. It was just a matter of keeping him healthy.

“He’s worked very hard to get to this point,” Baldelli said. “He’s overcome some things and this is what I think the ideal version of Jorge Alcala looks like, and it’s always been in there. This is a guy that we’ve always believed in.”

Though the upside with Alcala has always been high, the Twins haven’t really gotten to see much of him at his best at the major-league level. Even this season, Alcala began the year with the Twins but was optioned twice to Triple-A before returning in late May and starting to establish himself as a later-inning option.

“Whenever you have the opportunities, take advantage, and right now I just feel great that I’m in these types of opportunities,” Alcala said.

The reliever has a 1.88 earned-run average in 28 2/3 innings this season and, the Twins have been pleased with how he has responded to what they’ve asked of him.

Specifically, Baldelli noted that Alcala was coming in and throwing his best stuff right out of the gate, something which they addressed with him after he would enter games throwing in the lower 90s earlier this season.

“When you throw one inning most of the time, you have to come in ready to go. You have to come in throwing strikes,” Baldelli said. “You have to come in with your best stuff, and you have to go right at the hitters. He’s doing a wonderful job of that right now from the first pitch on. Earlier in the year, some of those things I think weren’t taking place consistently.”

Case in point: Seattle’s Luke Raley, the first batter Alcala faced in the seventh inning on Saturday, saw three pitches above 97 miles per hour to begin his at-bat.

The next batter, Ty France, got the 101.2 mph heat from a healthy Alcala showing the potential the Twins knew was in him.

“It’s the best, just to feel healthy,” Alcala said. “You can focus on a lot of things, you don’t have to worry about your body. For me, being healthy right now is the best thing that has happened.”

Related Articles

Twins pull away late in win over Mariners

Twins’ Ryan Jeffers taking spring training approach to right himself

Byron Buxton, Pablo López lead Twins past Mariners

Willi Castro’s versatility lands him in small club

Twins lose lead late and drop game in extra innings to Mariners