Alcantara ‘very proud’ to set Marlins career strikeout record. How he got there
As Sandy Alcantara fired off his 105th pitch on Tuesday night, an 86 mph slider low and away that got Kyle Higashioka to check his swing for Strike 3 in the seventh inning, the Miami Marlins’ ace made franchise history.
That strikeout, No. 1,002 of his Marlins tenure, set the club record for most strikeouts by a pitcher, breaking the mark previously held by Ricky Nolasco (1,001).
He soaked in the moment on the field as the loanDepot park crowd serenaded him with a round of applause. He celebrated more postgame in the clubhouse with a champagne toast with his teammates and coaches. A bottle of Don Julio 1942 sat on his chair and another of Veuve Clicquot was in his locker for him to take home.
Alcantara has accomplished so much in his time with the Marlins. A Cy Young, the first in Marlins history. Two All-Star nods. Six Opening Day starts.
Now, his name stands alone atop a franchise mark for the franchise that believed in him and gave him a chance to flourish.
“Very proud to myself and the way that I’ve been growing here in this organization,” Alcantara said postgame. “So grateful for all the opportunities that this team has given to me. Tonight was a great night for me, for my family, my teammates, the city, everybody who watched the game.”
Alcantara never thought a day like this, a milestone like this, would come in his career growing up in the Dominican Republic.
But a journey nearly nine years to the day in the making, one that saw Alcantara find ways to improve year over year, prepared him for this.
“A franchise record is a big deal,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “It’s a tough thing to do. It takes longevity. Certainly, you have to be really good to be able to stay in a place long enough and have an accolade or record like that. It’s a testament to how good Sandy’s been.”
Alcantara the workhorse
It perhaps is ironic that the first major franchise record Alcantara has is career strikeouts because has never been known as a strikeout guy.
He has just a career 20.7% strikeout rate and 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings mark with the Marlins. He has more than twice as many complete games (13) and nearly as many shutouts (five) as games with double-digit strikeouts (six).
But as a workhorse, he has shown the ability to consistently pitch deep into games and rack up strikeouts simply by nature of being on the mound more than others.
Alcantara is one of 35 pitchers in MLB to have at least 1,000 strikeouts since 2018, when he debuted with the Marlins. His 1,177 innings through games played Tuesday are the 12th most in that span despite him only throwing 34 innings across six starts in that initial season and missing the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
A sign of his dominance late in games: Alcantara has pitched into the seventh and in 86 of his 186 Marlins starts. He has a 3.01 combined ERA in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings 127 strikeouts over 128 2/3 innings, averaging nearly a strikeout per inning late in games compared to .86 per inning in Innings 1-3 (480 strikeouts over 555 innings) and .81 per inning in Innings 4-6 (399 strikeouts over 493 1/3 innings).
Put another way: Just over one-eighth of his career strikeouts with Miami (12.7%) have come over that span.
Feasting on the NL East
Unsurprisingly, most of Alcantara’s strikeout damage has come against the National League East.
He has faced the Philadelphia Phillies the most during his Marlins tenure — 23 of his 186 career starts — and has 123 strikeouts against them over 140 2/3 innings.
That’s the only team against which he has more than 100 strikeouts, although the New York Mets (99 strikeouts through 118 2/3 innings and 18 starts) and Atlanta Braves (93 strikeouts through 106 2/3 innings and 17 starts) are close. The Washington Nationals (75 strikeouts through 116 innings and 18 starts) round out the top four.
He has at least 50 strikeouts against four other teams: The Cincinnati Reds (57 through eight starts), Pittsburgh Pirates (53 through eight starts), St. Louis Cardinals (52 through eight starts) and Tampa Bay Rays (50 through nine starts).
A diverse arsenal
What also sets Alcantara up for success: His ability to record outs — and strikeouts in particular — with every pitch in his arsenal.
Alcantara has recorded at least 250 strikeouts with three different pitches throughout his Marlins career: 277 with the changeup, 268 with the four-seam fastball and 253 with the cutter. He has added another 153 with his sinker, 42 with the slider and nine with the sweeper that he introduced to his arsenal this season.
His 81 strikeouts this year break down as follows: 25 on the changeup (30.1%), 16 on the sinker (19.8%), 15 on the four-seam fastball (18.5%), nine apiece on the slider and sweeper (11.1% each) and seven on the cutter (8.6%).
Success against the league’s best
Alcantara’s 1,002 strikeouts with the Marlins have been spread across 451 different players.
It started with Corey Oswalt in his June 29, 2018, start against the New York Mets.
Seven players have had the fortune of striking out 10 or more times against Alcantara: Austin Riley (17), Rhys Hoskins (16), Kyle Schwarber (15), Bryce Harper (11), Pete Alonso (10), Matt Olson (10) and Brandon Nimmo (10).
Harper is the only one of those seven with a batting average above .250 and a strikeout percentage below 20% against Alcantara.
Nimmo was Alcantara’s second career Marlins strikeout in his debut and was also strikeouts Nos. 999 and 1,001 on Tuesday night.
More records on the way?
The Marlins’ career strikeout record could be just the first major milestone Alcantara hits this season.
Should he stay healthy — and should he not be dealt by the Aug. 3 trade deadline — Alcantara is in position to hit at least one more mark and could get as many as three by season’s end.
As it stands, Alcantara is 49 innings shy of breaking Nolasco’s franchise record for career innings pitched (1,225 2/3). An average of seven innings per game gets Alcantara there in seven games with half a season left to play. He is also 12 starts shy of breaking Nolasco’s franchise mark for total starts (197).
Finally, Alcantara is two shutouts from tying Dontrelle Willis’ franchise mark of 15. A.J. Burnett is also ahead of Alcantara on that list with 14.
“I’m happy with the way that I’ve been doing my best in this organization. Hopefully I’m gonna keep doing my best through I don’t know when, but yeah, very happy with the way that we’ve been fighting together.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 9:02 AM.
.JPG)