Miami Marlins: Sandy Alcantara is ready for the start of 2020

Will Sandy Alcantara prove to be the Opening Day starter the Miami Marlins need him to be in 2020?

The Opening Day starter is a time-honored tradition in Major League Baseball. The past two seasons, Jose Urena took the bump for the Miami Marlins. This season, it’s Sandy Alcantara’s job to lose.

The Marlins continue with their preparation for the 2020 season as the flamethrower took the mound on Saturday in batting practice. This is exactly why the team’s front office acquired Alcantara in a trade that sent Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals three seasons ago.

Now, following a 6-14 season which is a bit misleading, Alcantara is a few weeks short of leading this Marlins’ pitching staff.

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Manager Don Mattingly has not named his starter for the first game of the 60-game season just yet. There are other contenders, including Urena and Caleb Smith.

"“I’m ready,” Alcantara said during a Zoom call via MLB.com. “I didn’t stop working hard. For me, if the opener was tomorrow, I’m ready to go.”"

Many of the Marlins players did what they could to keep in shape during the time off from training. Alcantara was the team’s lone representative at the All-Star game last season and figures to build on a 2019 second half that at times was dominating on the mound.

Because of the shorter schedule, the Miami Marlins coaching staff may become a bit more creative with their pitching staff. The bullpen may get more work. The starters may pitch fewer innings. There hasn’t been a situation like this before to use comparisons. But as the Marlins and the other MLB teams face the same situation, the strategy should be interesting this season.

"“We are going to surprise a lot of people this year,” Alcantara said. “It’s a 60-game season. Everybody is going to see what we’ve got.”"

You have to like the enthusiasm from Alcantara. Four of the five spots in the team’s rotation are spoken for. It’s the last spot that could provide excitement over the next two weeks. Mattingly has more options this season to define his bullpen, which means starters from last season could become long relievers or specialists in relief.

Because of how the coaching staff used the first three weeks of camp back in March, pitchers had already been working toward five innings on the mound. Now, Mattingly and the staff will help these young arms resume what they started.

"“Everybody is kind of doing the same thing,” Mattingly said. “Everybody is trying to figure out what’s the best way to get your guys ready for baseball, as soon as possible.“In our minds, that’s trying to get them in game situations as much as possible. … Get them at-bats, and then work our way into some sim games. Our pitchers have been working. Our guys have been built up pretty good. They were up to like five innings.”"

And it’s possible that’s all they will need to start the season. If the rebuilt bullpen can eat innings, the starters have a solid chance of putting the Marlins in winning situations. The bullpen was one of the greatest concerns this offseason but has been addressed by the front office.