It’s Always Sandy in Miami with the Marlins

Is Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara ready to take the reins of the team’s young rotation and become the ace of the staff?

On December 13, 2017, the Miami Marlins completed a trade that sent former All-Star Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals for a package of prospects; one of them being a Dominican 23-year-old flamethrower by the name of Sandy Alcantara.  He made his MLB debut in 2017 appearing in only 8 relief stints striking out 10 batters in 8 scattered innings.

Many fans do not recall Alcantara yet as he battled through some injuries his first year with the ball club but there is some buzz surrounding this hurler.

It took a couple months for Sandy to make his debut with the Fish and many within the organization believe it was well worth the wait.  On June 28, 2018, Sandy was promoted from the New Orleans Baby Cakes farm system.

The following day he would make his first elusive start vs the New York Mets where he pitched a gem. Started five solid innings mixing in a couple walks while only allowing one run.

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Marlins fans caught a slight glimpse of possibly their future ace for the next decade.  However, shortly thereafter he was placed in the Disabled List with a right armpit infection. Marlins brass played it smart with their young prospect by sending him to the minors and not rushing him back up.

It took Alcantara a couple months to get back on track but he progressed through his throwing program/rehab starts and was able to pitch again in 2018.

The Marlins were cautious enough with their young ballplayer and finally called him up in early September to pitch vs the Mets coincidentally again.  He did not disappoint with a 7 inning 3 hit shutout with six strikeouts.

"Alcantara had this to say after waiting 2-3 months patiently:  ” I took my time in Triple-A to get right mentally and physically. To make sure when I got up here, I was able to do my best”. Alcantara added, “The Marlins told me when I went down, they wanted me to be more aggressive and attack the zone and that’s what I did.”"

I’m sure the New York Mets have had enough of the rookie at least for this year.

As a die hard Marlin fan, I’m looking forward to watching Alcantara become a top of the line rotation guy for a very long time. He’s had experience before as a reliever so that adds to his pitching repertoire.

Besides that, I see him as a front-end starter who will eat up innings with his live fast ball and use his slider, change up and curve sparingly.  It will be very interesting to see what a healthy off season can do to this kid if he comes back strong and healthy.

Hopefully, it’ll always be Sandy in Miami.