Miami Marlins 2020 Likely Opening Day Rotation

Right-handed starter Sandy Alcantara came over to the Marlins via the Marcell Ozuna deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Coming with him were fellow starters Zac Gallen (since flipped for Jazz Chisholm) and Daniel Castano, along with outfielder Magneuris Sierra.

Alcantara was 2-3 with a 3.44 ERA over six starts to close out the 2018 campaign. Most impressive of those six was his final start, on September 30th, when he struck out 10 New York Mets over seven four-hit innings. He took the hard-luck loss in that one, a 1-0 affair.

The Azua, DR native began the 2019 season as the Marlins number four starter, Behind Urena, Trevor Richards, & Lopez. in his first game of the season, on March 31st, he earned the victory with eight shutout, four-hit innings, striking out six and issuing zero walks. On May 19th, he pitched a shutout in a 3-0 win over the Mets, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out eight.

Still, Alcantara’s starts were largely hit-or-miss, with eight starts resulting in a sub-40 GameScore. He also had 11 instances of GameScores of 60 or greater. Over the final two months of the season, he held the opposition to a .207 batting average, a 2.78 ERA, a 1.049 WHIP, and struck out 62 in 74 1/3 innings.

On September 8th, Alcantara spun another gem in a 9-0 shutout over the Kansas City Royals, striking out eight and surrendering four hits and a pair of walks. Alcantara closed the campaign with a somewhat misleading 6-14 record, a 3.88 ERA, and a Marlins-staff-leading 2.9 WAR.

Alcantara has the inside track on the Opening Day spot.