3 Miami Marlins players who must do better in May

2. SP SANDY ALCANTARA

Sandy Alcantara was the best pitcher in the Major Leagues last season. It wasn't even remotely debatable. This season though...not so much. The ace started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 and produced a 4.32 ERA/6.04 FIP with 10.8 K/9 and 6.5 BB/9 in 8.1 innings as a relief pitcher. The Redbirds flipped him to the Miami Marlins in what is surely one of the worst trades in St. Louis's history. Sandy immediately improved with The Fish upon arrival, producing a 3.44 ERA/4.75 FIP with 7.9 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 6 starts and 34.0 innings pitched.

Alcantara followed that up in 2019 with a 3.88 ERA/4.55 FIP, with 6.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 32 games and 197.1 innings pitched. He was clearly improving further, but his strikeouts were in decline. It seemed to be a consequence to his control steadily improving in return. The question was whether he could take yet another step forward and get his strikeouts back up, while keeping his walks down.

In the shortened 2020 season, Sandy Alcantara did just that. He delivered a 3.00 ERA/3.71 FIP with 8.4 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9, in 7 games and 42.0 innings pitched. Sandy seemed to have turned into a legitimate ace that season. It was a star-making performance by the starting pitcher.

In 2021, Sandy Alcantara delivered a 3.19 ERA/3.42 FIP, with 8.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 33 games and 205.2 innings pitched. This was even better and was a very promising season for the ace. Sandy's rise to the top culminated in his National League Cy Young winning 2022 season. He delivered a 2.28 ERA/2.99 FIP with 8.1 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9, in 32 games and 228.2 innings pitched. That performance led to his Major League leading 8.0 WAR among pitchers.

2023 has been a different story for Alcantara. The 27 year old ace currently has a 5.04 ERA/3.85 FIP with 7.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. Sandy's fastball is 98.1 mph, actually faster than last season's 98.0 mph. Sandy Alcantara is so good, that it's hard for me to see any scenario where he doesn't improve in his next few starts.

A potential star LF...

1. LF BRYAN DE LA CRUZ

Bryan De La Cruz debuted in 2021 with an impressive .296/.356/.427 batting line with 5 home runs and 19 RBI, in 58 games and 199 AB. It was a great and promising debut, with a lot of expectations coming up for the following season. Could he post similar numbers over a full season? That was the question with Bryan going into the 2022 season.

In 2022, Bryan De La Cruz batted .252/.294/.432, with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 115 games and 329 AB. This was....not very inspiring. He was certainly more talented than his batting line suggested, but it was still a very underwhelming follow-up season. That is until you realize that it was a season of two halves...

In the first half of the 2022 season, Bryan De La Cruz batted .209/.257/.353 in the first half. In the second half, De La Cruz batted .310/.342/.535. He actually got moved to third in the batting order as he kept hitting. In that second half, De La Cruz turned into a legitimate middle of the order bat. This was extremely promising for 2023, but the slugger is currently batting just .253/.296/.374 in 25 games and 91 AB.

Can Bryan De La Cruz improve on that batting line this season? Bryan's BABIP is a surprisingly high .362, with his career mark at .337. De La Cruz's Exit Velocity is 91.5, which is the highest that he's ever had. He's consistently hitting the ball hard, but hits far too many ground balls. De La Cruz's GB% is 51.7%. It was 42.4% last season. Can he get it down, and hit more fly balls?

Bryan De La Cruz has a great Exit Velocity, and was a middle of the order bat in the second half of last season. Can he get back to that level this season? Can he become a middle of the order bat this season too? I really hope that he does, because another big bat is exactly what the Miami Marlins need in the middle of the lineup. Time will tell if he will turn the corner in May.