Is the Miami Marlins ace seriously injured?!
The Miami Marlins won a big series over the weekend, but unfortunately it came with some bad news. Ace Sandy Alcantara had to miss his start due to an injury! It was a very disappointing and alarming announcement. At least, it luckily didn't prevent The Fish from winning the game that he was supposed to start. The question was if he's going to be joining the team's other injured pitchers on the injured list. The series win was not enough of a consolation however, how is our ace doing? What's wrong with him? I'll answer these questions here...
Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara may not be seriously injured.
Sandy Alcantara is the best starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. It's not even a debate. The superstar had an 8.0 WAR last season and a 2.28 ERA/2.99 FIP in 228.2 innings pitched. He won the National League Cy Young award for that performance. He also has a career 3.18 ERA in 122 games and 740.2 innings pitched. The Miami Marlins need him to continue providing this elite performance going forward.
This hasn't been a good season for Sandy Alcantara so far. He has a 5.47 ERA in 4 games and 24.2 innings pitcher. There are some positives however... He has a 3.49 FIP and we now know that his struggles may have been injury related. Sandy has has right biceps tendinitis. Craig Mish from the Miami Herald reports that The Fish are not overly concerned about the injury, and believe that it's not serious. The hope is that rest will help cure him and get him back on the field.
I did some research on Sandy's injury and it appears that the recovery time can be weeks to a month! It does however say that rest is a recommended solution for the ailment. I hope that the Miami Marlins medical department knows what they're doing and have the right solution. My biggest fear is that the injury turns out to be serious, and Sandy misses significant time. This would be catastrophic as The Fish have a realistic shot at the playoffs this season.