Alcantara Can Make Marlins History With Win vs. Rangers

MIAMI — Tuesday’s game between the Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers could be another moment of coronation for one of the franchise’s most iconic players. 

RHP Sandy Alcantara enters his 17th start of the season with a career 998 strikeouts as a member of the Marlins. With four more strikeouts on Tuesday, Alcantara will pass RHP Ricky Nolasco (1,001 strikeouts) for the most strikeouts in franchise history. 

Alcantara, who had already made history as the first and only Marlins pitcher to take home the Cy Young Award, previously became the fifth active Dominican-born pitcher (26th all-time) to reach the 1,000-strikeout mark on June 12 at Pittsburgh. His first 10 career strikeouts came during his debut season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017. The Marlins acquired him as part of a package that included Zac Gallen in a trade for Marcel Ozuna. 

Alcantara (29) also enters Tuesday with the opportunity to pass the late José Fernández for the most wins in the history of loanDepot park, which opened in 2012. In terms of the totality of Marlins history, Dontrelle Willis leads the pack with 33 home wins, followed by Nolasco (32) and Josh Johnson (31).

His 4.18 ERA suggests that Alcantara’s best years are behind him. However, his 103.1 innings pitched, which is second in the Major Leagues behind Phillies ace Christopher Sanchez, suggests “El Caballo” is as good as he ever was. 

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said during his pregame press conference that Alcantara’s ERA “is a little bit misleading” because of the few bad outings that have radically skewed the average. For every shutout, there had been a 7+ run stinker. 

But overall, for a team that is in playoff contention and above .500, “Sandy’s been great.”

“I think what stands out to me still is no matter how things are going, Sandy is just so consistent on how he shows up and approaches each game,” McCullough said. “I think good or bad, Sandy is a professional and he understands that.”

Alcantara is the only player since the franchise was sold in 2017 to be acquired and signed to an extension by the new ownership group. The Marlins have made the postseason twice since Alcantara arrived in 2018, which matches the franchise’s first 24 years. 

Alcantara is in the final year of his 5-year, $55 million extension, with a $21M team option for 2027. Instead of trading him before the trade deadline, the Marlins could sign him to another extension and make Alcantara the first player to spend 10 years with the franchise. 

“Rightly so, he is the face of the franchise, and he’s earned that,” McCullough said. “He deserves the accolades, and he deserves people to come out and appreciate how much he’s done for this franchise, and he’ll continue to do as we move forward.”

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