Cy Young winner Sandy Alcántara wants to remain in Miami, embracing his role as the Marlins' ace despite recent struggles and trade speculation.
Sandy Alcántara knows his time as a Miami Marlin may be short.
Although the Marlins are apparently set to keep him through spring training, how much longer he will be in Miami beyond that depends on how well the Marlins do in 2026.
How well the Marlins do in 2026 will depend partly on Alcántara.
Since the Marlins traded Edward Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs over the winter, Alcántara will be the clear-cut No. 1 starter come Opening Day. He didn’t pitch like a No. 1 last season. Just three years after winning the NL Cy Young Award, Alcántara had the worst season of his career, going 11-12 with a 5.36 ERA.
Alcántara’s decline led to speculation that the Marlins would move on.
Instead, the Marlins traded Cabrera and Ryan Weathers, the latter to the New York Yankees.
Speaking with reporters at Marlin’s Media Day on Friday, Alcántara said he likes where he is.
“I'm happy to stay in Miami,” Alcántara said via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. “I know there were a lot of things in the media, but at the end of the day, I can't control those decisions. Just the thing that I can control is just be out there and play baseball for Miami.”
The Marlins weren’t the team that drafted Alcántara, nor were they the first major-league team he played for.
Those titles belong to the St. Louis Cardinals.
But nobody remembers the eight relief appearances Alcántara made for St. Louis in 2017.
The Marlins traded for Alcántara that December, when he was 22 years old.
Now he's 30, and there are questions about how much Alcántara has left in that tank.
“At the end of the day, I'm here,” Alcantara said. “I'm still here, I love this city, and I want to keep playing here."
Alcántara’s downward spiral started well before 2025.
After winning the Cy Young, Alcántara regressed to a 7-12 record and 4.14 ERA.
He then missed the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery, and was recovering from that during 2025.
As underwhelming as Alcántara’s 2025 numbers were, those numbers were inflated due to a dismal first half.
In Alcántara’s fist 18 games, his ERA was above 7.
In Alcántara’s last 13 games, his ERA was 3.33, which would have been the lowest on the team had it held for a full season.
Advanced metrics also suggest that Alcántara was a victim of bad luck in 2025.
His Fielding Independent Pitching, which measures what a pitcher’s ERA would be defense weren’t a factor, was 4.28, more than a run below his earned run average.
Alcántara’s average fastball velocity also never dipped, so there’s a good chance 2025 was a fluke.
Alcántara understands the importance of his health.
“I know it, and I’ve just got to be able to be healthy this year,” he said, “showing the people in Spring Training that I can do great and just got to keep believing, and those opportunities that this organization can give to me.”
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