Alcantara looks good in return. And six takeaways from Marlins spring training so far
Six takeaways from the first couple days of Marlins spring training games, with Monday’s game in Houston canceled due to poor weather in West Palm Beach:
▪ Nearly 17 months after Tommy John surgery, Sandy Alcantara looked very good in his spring debut.
In his first game action since elbow surgery in October 2023, Alcantara on Sunday allowed one hit and registered a strikeout on 17 pitches in a one-inning appearance of a 1-1 tie against the Mets. He hit 99 mph on five fastballs and also threw sliders, sinkers and one-change up. Thirteen of his 17 pitches were strikes.
“My arm feels so good,” he told reporters in Port St. Lucie, including mlb.com. “[Command] was good. A couple times, I was trying to be too perfect. When I was warming up, I thought maybe I would walk a batter but it didn’t happen. It feels great after a long time without competing. I was nervous, but after the first pitch, I forgot about it.”
He’s set to pitch in the Marlins’ March 27 opener at home against Pittsburgh (4:10 p.m., Bally Sports Florida).
“Thank God for the opportunity to be out there and compete and be healthy,” he said.
The Marlins are hoping for the 2022 version of Alcantara when he won the National League Cy Young award after finishing with a 14-9 record, 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts in a league-leading 228 2/3 innings.
He struggled somewhat in 2023, finishing 7-12 with a 4.14 ERA.
▪ Liam Hicks, a Rule 5 pickup from Detroit, is being given every chance to win the backup catcher job behind Nick Fortes.
He caught Alcantara on Sunday and “he impressed me, the way he called pitches, the way he handled [things] behind the plate,” Alcantara said. Hicks went 1 for 2 on Sunday after not playing in Saturday’s spring opener.
Unlike four non-roster catchers (including former Marlins catcher Rob Brantley), Hicks already is on the 40-man roster. If Hicks does not remain on the Marlins’ 26-man roster for the entire 2025 season, he must be offered back to Detroit for $50,000.
Acquired by Detroit from Texas before last year’s trade deadline, Hicks hit .264 with a .379 on-base average with 6 HR and 47 RBI in 113 games in Double A Erie (Pennsylvania) and Double A Frisco (Texas).
“His approach at the plate is unique for a catcher,” said Peter Bendix, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations. “His plate discipline is excellent. He has got a real chance to make our team.”
Besides Fortes and Hicks, top prospect Agustin Ramirez is the only other catcher on the Marlins 40-man roster. He’s expected to start the season in Triple A.
▪ Manager Clayton McCullough isn’t simply going to hand the center field job to Dane Myers, even though Myers showed offensive potential (.266, .333 on base, three homers, 19 RBI) in 44 games last season before and after he was lost for 10 weeks after fracturing an ankle when he kicked a clubhouse door last July.
Veteran Derek Hill also is being given a chance to win the job; he started Saturday’s spring opener and was scheduled to start Monday before the game was postponed. Myers started Sunday’s game and was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Hill hit .234, .259 on base, four homers and 18 RBI in 32 games but missed significant time with a shoulder injury. McCullough said right fielder Jesus Sanchez also will get some spring reps in center field.
▪ While some evaluators have pitcher Thomas White as Miami’s top overall prospect, Fangraphs.com gives that distinction to Ramirez, ranking the catcher 43rd overall among its top 100 prospects.
Fangraphs calls him “a power-hitting catching prospect who will essentially be an everyday player by catching part-time and also getting reps at first base and DH.”
Fangraphs, surprisingly, has catcher Joe Mack as Miami’s No. 2 overall prospect and 69th overall in its top 100. His bat came alive last season, with 22 homers in 109 games at Double A Pensacola, and fangraphs calls him “a power-hitting lefty catcher with a plus-plus arm.”
Three other Marlins prospects are ranked among that web site’s top 100 prospects: White 83rd (“a big-framed lefty with mid-90s heat and a plus breaking ball”); shortstop Starlyn Caba 87th (the prize acquisition from the Jesus Luzardo trade with the Phillies “is a special defender who has produced special contact rates in the lower minors. He is unlikely to hit for much power”); and pitcher Noble Meyer 97th (“had a walk-prone 2024 season, but still has great stuff”).
▪ More prospect watch: Pitchers Adam Mazur and Robby Snelling, both acquired in last July’s Tanner Scott trade with the Padres, pitched clean scoreless innings over the weekend and Snelling’s fastball was sharp. Both could be in the rotation at some point this season or in 2026; Mazur had been a long shot candidate for the No. 5 job because the Marlins signed Cal Quantrill…
Troy Johnston, who has played 412 of his 552 minor league games at first base, was used in right field in both games over the weekend and continues to flash offensively, with two hits in his first three at bats.
Johnston, 27, hit .276 (.339 on base) with 11 homers and 63 RBI in 125 games at Jacksonville last season but has never received a big-league promotion and is in camp as a non-roster invitee. A lefty hitter and former 17th round Marlins draft pick out of Gonzaga, Johnston is just two years removed from a 26-homer, 116-RBI season at Jacksonville and Double A Pensacola.
▪ Tough luck continues for outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., who missed the final two months of last season with a back injury and is now sidelined three to four weeks with a mild hamstring strain.
Mesa had been a long shot to make the team out of spring training, but the Marlins believe he has big league potential. Mesa, 23, hit .259 (.319 on base) with 13 homers and 51 games in 80 games at Jacksonville in 2024.
Next up
The Marlins play the Washington Nationals in Jupiter at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM.
