Sandy Alcantara Twirls Shutout Performance in Potential Final Marlins Start
If Tuesday night was Sandy Alcantara’s final start as a Miami Marlin, the two-time All-Star certainly left everything out on the mound.
Ahead of Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, Alcantara received the nod against the St. Louis Cardinals – the organization he signed with out of the Dominican Republic as an international free agent – as rumours continue to swirl regarding his future with the Marlins.
But the 29-year-old didn’t show any signs of being distracted by the outside noise, tossing five shutout innings in just his second scoreless outing of the season. The right-hander allowed a trio of hits and walks while striking out four across 94 pitches (55 strikes), outduelling St. Louis’ Sonny Gray.
“Nothing on my mind right now,” Alcantara told reporters Tuesday, including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola, regarding his uncertain future in Miami. “Everyone knows — my teammates know, coaches, myself, my family know that I want to be here. But if something happens tonight, tomorrow, I don’t know when it happens. Just got to control what I can control. Just be out there every fifth day here in Miami or somewhere else. I don’t know.”
Alcantara hit the first batter he faced, striking Masyn Winn with a 93-mph sinker. He settled in shortly after, though, retiring six of his next seven batters – two via strikeout.
On a hot and humid night at Busch Stadium, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner battled his fastball velocity early on, with his sinker operating in the low-to-mid 90s before ticking up during the middle innings. It ended up averaging 96.9 mph, just 0.2 off his season average, and topping out at 99.9.
With Miami’s offence providing five runs of support, ultimately securing a 5-0 win over St. Louis, Alcantara earned his sixth victory of 2025 and has won consecutive starts for the first time since April 12th. But he still owns the highest ERA (6.36) among qualified major league starters this season.
Whether he’s traded or not by Thursday’s deadline, the Marlins feel their struggling ace is beginning to turn the corner on a dreadful ‘25 campaign.
“One, he’s a great person,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He’s incredibly humble. I think what he has gone through this year, which has been well-documented, it hasn’t been the start of the season as he would like, but he just hangs in there, continuing to try to problem-solve between starts”.
“You know you’re going to get someone that’s going to go out there and compete with every pitch he has. The amount of trust that our clubhouse has in Sandy and the confidence we have in Sandy has never wavered, and these last two have been great. Twelve really terrific innings and get a couple wins. Proud of how Sandy just continues to just chug along and he’s continued to dig himself out of the early-season struggles.”
Overall, Alcantara has struggled mightily to replicate the pitcher he was pre-Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of 2024 and the final few weeks of the ‘23 season. But the stuff is still there for the talented righty, whose average fastball velocity (97.3 mph) ranks in the 91st percentile.
That’s a key element as to why he’s an intriguing trade target for several playoff contenders, as is the fact that his five-year, $56-million contract runs through 2026 and includes a $21 million club option ($2 million buyout) for ‘27.
But Alcantara isn’t the only Marlins starter who could be moved ahead of this season’s trade deadline, as Edward Cabrera – under club control through 2028 – has also received significant interest and likely stands as the franchise’s most highly-coveted trade chip.
There’s also a chance that both hurlers remain put following Thursday’s deadline, allowing Miami’s front office to revisit trade conversations during the off-season with the hope of receiving improved offers.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Ryan Casey Aguinaldo. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.