Do the Miami Marlins need to trade for a starting pitcher?

The Miami Marlins have been excelling this season and currently sit at 40-31 and that’s without a few key players for the past month.   The Marlins just got A.J. Puk back on June 7th and Jazz Chisholm has been on the IL since May 13th.  The biggest issue to date however has been the decline of Sandy Alcantara.  You can say for a month or so it’s a slump but at this point in the season it’s a decline.  So the question remains, do they need to look for another starting pitcher?

Injury update

The injury bug has plagued the Miami Marlins rotation, and another arm is down as Neil wrote yesterday, in Edward Cabrera.  Trevor Rogers is being evaluated this weekend with his right lat strain, and if all goes well he can resume baseball activities, but still has a road to get back.  

Johnny Cueto is currently rehabbing but is not faring well.  He gave up a first inning grand slam in his most recent start going 3.2 innings.   In that appearance he allowed 7 hits, 4 runs, and only struck out 1 batter.  He might return soon, but is that really a boost for the Marlins as much as they will need going into the playoffs, I don’t think so based on available evidence. 

Sandy Alcantara

The last big question is, where is Sandy?  2023 Sandy is a shell of the 2022 Cy Young award winner and it has hurt the Marlins more than helped.  Alcantara has a 4.97 ERA as of June 18th and he has allowed 2 or fewer runs in only 5 of his 14 starts this year.  

This month he should have had three easy starts, and yet he gave up five earned runs against the Athletics and Nationals.  Finally he is 2-5 on the season and hasn’t factored into a decision since May 24th. 

The question remains, do the Marlins go for a starting pitcher at the deadline?  Perhaps a Shane Bieber or Marcus Stroman could really make this team a contender in August.  Just think of this three-man rotation in the playoffs, Stroman, Perez, Luzardo, with Alcantara and Brax in the pen for long relief.