Red Sox promote Alec Gamboa as Danny Coulombe hits injured list
Boston turned to Alec Gamboa after Danny Coulombe’s IL move, giving the 29-year-old lefty a chance to fill a sudden bullpen need from Worcester.
Boston needed a left-handed answer and found one in Worcester, promoting Alec Gamboa just as Danny Coulombe landed on the injured list with cervical spasms. The move gave the Red Sox a fresh arm from Triple-A at the exact moment their bullpen lost another lefty, and it pushed Gamboa onto the major league roster wearing No. 68.
The transaction log showed the shift on May 4, 2026: Coulombe was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to May 2, Patrick Sandoval was transferred to the 60-day injured list, and Gamboa had his contract selected from Worcester. Sandoval’s move tied to his recovery from left UCL surgery, underscoring how thin Boston’s left-handed relief depth had become.
Gamboa arrives with a profile that is more about persistence and strikeouts than polish. He is 29, was born Jan. 17, 1997, in Madera, California, and stands 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds. A left-hander drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Fresno City College, he has spent years working through the upper minors and now gets his first big-league look with Boston.
The raw numbers show why the Red Sox reached for him now. Gamboa’s 2026 line in the minors stood at 7.1 innings, a 8.59 ERA, nine strikeouts and a 2.32 WHIP, a reminder that command and traffic have been issues even as the swing-and-miss has remained in place. In 2025 at Triple-A, he logged 19.1 innings with a 4.19 ERA and 12 strikeouts, a steadier stretch that hinted at a usable left-handed arm for higher-leverage work.
His longer track record offers the clearest picture of what Boston is buying. Gamboa has pitched in 133 minor league games, totaling 367.0 innings with 324 strikeouts and a 4.32 ERA. That history does not guarantee instant impact, but it does explain why Boston turned to him rather than shop elsewhere for an immediate replacement.
For the Red Sox, the timing matters as much as the player. Coulombe’s absence removed a late-game lefty option, and Gamboa steps into a roster spot built for urgency. If he can carry over the strikeout ability that has followed him through the minors, Boston has a chance to patch a real bullpen hole without waiting for help from outside the organization.
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