Miami Marlins ace is set up for a big 2025 season after new developments

Yesterday, the Miami Marlins saw an injured starting pitcher return, but a more important one is coming back next season. That pitcher already received a promise from Peter Bendix to be traded. The pitcher that I'm talking about is of course none other than Sandy Alcantara. The ace has been showing a lot of potential as he prepares for his big return next season.

Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara is coming back next season.

Sandy Alcantara is a key player for the Miami Marlins. The ace is a former National League Cy Young award winner from back in 2022. That season he pitched to 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. Sandy has been a workhorse and 2022 was of course the highlight of his career (so far that is).

Prior to 2022, Sandy was showing signs of eventually breaking out. From 2018 to 2021, he pitched to a 3.48 ERA/4.01 FIP, with 7.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 78 games and 479.0 innings pitched for The Fish. He's been a workhorse for the team, pitching more than his peers per season.

The 2023 season unfortunately saw Sandy take a step back, as he's pitched to a 4.14 ERA/4.03 FIP with 7.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 28 games and 184.2 innings pitched. It was clear that something was wrong and it of course sadly turned into him needing Tommy John Surgery.

Prior to the Miami Marlins beating the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, Sandy Alcantara took the mound in batting practice against batters and threw 20 pitches. He actually got as high as 99 mph on his fastball! Interestingly, he's been mentoring Eury Perez, who is also injured and threw on flat ground that same day.

Sandy Alcantara threw to live batters for the first time since his recovery started and doesn't know when he'll be able to do that again. He does expect to have a normal off-season otherwise and is happy with his control. Fellow starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo said this:

“It was awesome to watch. He's been putting in a lot of work. We've all seen it. He's been around all year, and we've seen everything that goes into that with him. So we're happy for him. It went well. He looks really good, and like I just said, it's a testament to all the work that he's put in. So we're happy for him and happy to have him back."