Miami Marlins name Sandy Alcantara Opening Day starter. ‘It wasn’t that tough’
Perhaps the easiest decision to this point in Clayton McCullough’s time as Miami Marlins manager has been made.
McCullough on Thursday announced that right-handed pitcher Sandy Alcantara, the team’s ace who missed all of the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, will be the team’s Opening Day starter when they begin the season on March 27 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“It wasn’t that tough,” McCullough said. “Sandy was an easy one for us. Very, very happy for him, for all the hard work he’s put in now get himself back in position for that.”
This will be Alcantara’s fifth time as Miami’s Opening Day starter after holding that role each year from 2020-2023 before missing the 2024 season. In that four-year span, Alcantara pitched to a 3.13 ERA over 100 games. He threw 661 innings and 10 complete games, including a pair of shutouts, over those four seasons. He was the unanimous winner for the National League Cy Young Award in 2022.
The Marlins missed him dearly in 2024. With Alcantara out and basically every other key starting pitcher sustaining injuries at various points throughout the year, Miami had 18 different pitchers start at least one game, and the results suffered. Marlins starting pitchers combined for a 5.24 ERA (second worst in MLB) and only threw 785 innings (the fourth-fewest in the league).
But Alcantara’s impending return brings optimism to the Marlins as one of the league’s steadiest workhorses gets set to anchor their rotation once again.
“He’s our horse,” fellow starting pitcher Ryan Weathers said. “He’s a machine. He’s 98-100 [mph] every pitch with a good changeup and good breaking ball. Just excited to watch him get going.”
Added right-handed pitcher Max Meyer: “It’s gonna be huge [to have Alcantara back]. We’re gonna need all hands on deck, obviously. I know a lot of other guys can step up, but yeah, it’s really, really big to have him back.”
The announcement sets up potentially one of the more intriguing Opening Day pitching matchups of the season between Alcantara and most likely reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes for the Pirates. Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, pitched to a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts for the Pirates last season, striking out 170 batters over 133 innings and allowing just a .198 batting average against.
“I’ll bet on our guy,” McCullough said with a smile.
It’s the latest checkmark in what has been an 18-month journey for Alcantara. He underwent surgery right after the Marlins’ brief playoff appearance to cap the 2023 season ended. He then spent all of 2024 rehabbing and watching from the dugout as Miami slumped to a 62-100 record. He was throwing bullpens and live batting practices by the time the season ended.
Now that spring training has arrived, it appears he is going about his business with no limitations. He was in the first wave of pitchers to throw live batting practice sessions on Wednesday when the team held its first workout.
“It’s really frustrating for for him to miss an entire year,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “It’s really frustrating for the whole team. We know how important he is to the team, and it’s just great to see him out there.”
And in six short weeks, Alcantara will be on the mound at loanDepot park to kick off the Marlins’ season.
“For baseball, with Sandy, to have your better players — your star players — back out there is good for the game and certainly good for our fans.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 10:48 AM.
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