Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara has Tommy John surgery, will miss 2024 season
The Miami Marlins will be without their ace next season.
Right-handed pitcher Sandy Alcantara, the Marlins’ Opening Day starter each of the past three years and the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, announced Friday that he underwent Tommy John surgery to repair the UCL in his right elbow.
Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, performed the operation.
“With a heavy heart, I want to let everyone know I had ‘Tommy John’ surgery today and will miss next season,” Alcantara, who finished the first year of his five-year, $56 million deal, wrote on social media Friday. “I am most saddened for the great Marlins fans, who were so supportive of me and the team this year.”
Timeline of the injury
Alcantara undergoing surgery caps the first phase of his recovery of an injury he sustained just over a month ago. He initially felt arm discomfort following his start against the Washington Nationals on Sept. 3. Alcantara said he felt the pain on the final pitch he threw in that game — an 83.8 mph curveball to end the eighth inning.
But Alcantara, being the competitor that he is, tried to find a way to get back on the mound even if he knew he wouldn’t be at 100 percent. The Marlins were in the midst of a playoff push when the injury happened, and if there was an avenue to return during the season, he was going to explore it.
He began playing catch on Sept. 13 while the team was in Milwaukee for its four-game series against the Brewers. He then threw a couple bullpen sessions once the team returned to Miami, which set the stage for a rehab start on Sept. 21 with the Triple A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Alcantara threw four shutout innings in that game with the Jumbo Shrimp but felt forearm tightness after the outing, at which point Miami decided to shut him down for the season.
“We knew what we were dealing with,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said on Sept. 22. “That’s just the reality of it. His bullpens were good. He felt like he could go and try it. We didn’t think it was going to get any worse. You have to love where he’s at with that mentality. That’s what you want. You want a guy to help us get in the playoffs. He was going to do whatever he could if he felt like he could go ahead. If he had one percent left, he was going to give it to us.”
Surgery became the final outcome to make sure he can get back to top form.
“I give this game my all, I give this city my all,” Alcantara said. “And so I promise I will not take a day off as I push to be back better than ever. I will miss pitching, but I plan to be around the team as much as possible.”
Alcantara finished the 2023 season with a 4.14 ERA over 184 2/3 innings — the 20th-most in MLB despite not pitching the final month. He was one of eight pitchers who threw multiple complete games this season.
And while Alcantara struggled in the first half of the season, his ERA has dropped to 3.20 in his 10 starts after the All-Star Break, a stretch in which he threw both of his complete games and pitched into the eighth inning four times.
After being sidelined, Alcantara’s role changed from providing on the field to supporting from the dugout. He watched as the rest of his teammates stepped up over the final month of the season to secure the team’s first playoff berth in a full season since 2003. The postseason run was brief, with Miami getting swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the best-of-3 wild card round.
“I was always out there supporting my teammates,” Alcantara said Wednesday after the season-ending loss. “At the same time, I feel sad because I couldn’t be out there fighting for my team. It is what it is. I’ve just got to take it, support my team the way I have been and try to get better soon.”
Alcantara has also been the epitome of a workhorse since becoming a regular in the Marlins’ rotation. Since the start of the 2019 season, Alcantara has thrown 858 1/3 innings. Only Gerrit Cole (876 1/3 innings) has thrown more than Alcantara in that span.
“I feel for Sandy. We all feel for Sandy,” pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said the final week of the regular season. “Right up until the end, Sandy never gave in to the fact that there was an issue and it shows me a lot about his courage, his toughness, the type of teammate that he is. He wants to win and be a part of that. It’s been a big hit for us. Even though he’s had some ups and downs, we know that when Sandy takes the ball, you’re gonna get seven innings.”
What the Marlins’ rotation looks like without Alcantara
Without Alcantara, Miami’s rotation at this point for 2024 likely will feature lefties Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Trevor Rogers along with righties Eury Perez and Edward Cabrera. Righty Max Meyer, who spent the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and lefty Ryan Weathers are also possible options.
Luzardo and Garrett both had breakout seasons and started the Marlins’ two playoff games against the Phillies. Luzardo set the franchise record for most single-season strikeouts by a lefty (208), while the Marlins went 21-9 in Garrett’s 30 starts. Both set single-season career-highs for starts (32 for Luzardo, 30 for Garrett) and innings pitched (178 2/3 for Luzardo, 159 2/3 for Garrett).
Perez, one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball entering this season, pitched to a 3.15 ERA in 19 MLB starts. The 20-year-old, standing at 6-8, struck out 108 batters over 91 1/3 innings before ending the season on the injured list with inflammation in his left SI joint, which connects the pelvis to the lower spine.
Cabrera dealt with command issues early in the season which resulted in him being sent down to the minor leagues for a month but still posted a 4.24 ERA and tossed 99 2/3 innings with 118 strikeouts against 66 walks over 22 appearances (20 starts).
And Rogers, the runner-up for the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year award, missed most of the season due to injury, first a left biceps strain and then a partial tear in his right lat.
While Alcantara won’t be pitching, he said he is “very happy” about what the rotation can do in his absence.
“Those guys just have to come back ready for spring training,” Alcantara said, “and try to do the same thing.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 6:58 PM.
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