Bold truth: Sandy Alcántara is set to steer the Marlins as they open the season with their sixth opening-day start, a franchise record. And yes, that’s six straight years of him taking the mound for Miami on day one.
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara has already earned the nod to begin the season as Miami’s opening pitcher for a sixth time, a mark that tops the club’s history.
“Entering camp, it was one of the more straightforward decisions I’d faced,” manager Clayton McCullough said Friday, six weeks ahead of the home opener on March 27 against Colorado.
Alcántara returned to the mound last year after sitting out the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery. He debuted for the Marlins in the season opener the following year, marking his comeback chapter. Last season he went 11-12 with a 5.36 ERA over 31 starts, delivering standout form after the All-Star break following a rough stretch that included seven straight losses and almost two months without a win amid trade talk. In his final 12 starts, the 2022 NL Cy Young winner went 7-3 with a 3.13 ERA.
“I’m most proud of how he kept pushing forward last season and how he finished,” McCullough remarked.
Peter Bendix, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, added that Alcántara showed a true “full version” of himself in the season’s latter phase. “He spent much of the first half rehabbing in the big leagues, and there was some rust,” Bendix noted, “but that flipped in the second half. Seeing the complete Sandy on opening day is incredibly exciting.”
Now 30, Alcántara owns a career line of 52-67 with a 3.65 ERA across 177 games (169 starts). He has eight relief appearances to his name, all coming in 2017 with St. Louis—the year he was traded to Miami along with Zac Gallen and others in a deal that sent Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals.
His Cy Young season saw him go 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts over a league-leading 228 2/3 innings.
In a video released by the team announcing the decision, Alcántara expressed gratitude for the chance to pitch on opening day again.
“I came here ready to compete for a top spot, number one, number two, whatever,” he said. “I’m super excited for another opportunity to be on the mound for the Marlins, and I’m very happy.”
Beyond the Marlins, Alcántara has also committed to pitching for the Dominican Republic in next month’s World Baseball Classic.
McCullough says the pitcher is in great shape physically and had a productive offseason. He expects Alcántara to extend his innings load while competing in the WBC and to return to camp with the Marlins in good form.
“We’ll pick up from where he is,” McCullough stated. “But I anticipate that by Opening Day, Sandy will be right there — if not close to what he would have been had he stayed here.”
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What to read next
- More on the Marlins’ season outlook
- Details on Alcántara’s road back from injury
- World Baseball Classic updates for the Dominican Republic
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