Sandy Alcántara has been named one of MLB’s top comeback candidates for 2026. Here’s why his bounce-back season is critical for the Marlins.
For weeks, the national conversation around Sandy Alcántara has centered on one question: who’s going to trade for him?
But MLB.com just reframed the discussion entirely.
Instead of labeling him a movable asset, they named him one of baseball’s top bounce-back candidates for 2026. And that shift matters -- not just for perception, but for the direction of the Miami Marlins’ season.
After trading away Edward Cabrera and David Weathers, Miami’s rotation doesn’t have the luxury of slow development. It has promise in arms like Max Meyer and Eury Pérez. It has projection. It has upside. What it doesn’t have is certainty.
That certainty is supposed to be Alcántara.
Yes, 2025 was ugly on the surface -- an 11-12 record and 5.36 ERA. For a former Cy Young winner, that line felt jarring. But context matters. He was navigating his first full season removed from Tommy John surgery. And if you zoom in on the second half, the narrative changes quickly.
Over his final 12 starts, Alcántara posted a 3.13 ERA. The velocity stabilized. His command sharpened. The innings piled up again. That wasn’t a fluke stretch -- it was a pitcher rediscovering rhythm.
Projection systems see it too. FanGraphs forecasts him for roughly 188 innings with a 4.08 ERA and nearly 3 WAR. That’s not 2022 dominance. But it’s frontline stability — and stability is exactly what this roster needs.
More importantly, Alcantara sounds different this spring.
“A lot of confidence,” he told MLB.com when asked about his mindset entering camp. “More confident than last year, but I always still believe in myself.”
That quote shouldn’t be glossed over. Confidence for a power pitcher coming off surgery isn’t just mental fluff. It’s conviction in the arm. It’s trust in the mechanics. It’s belief that the body will respond.
And the timing couldn’t be better. Alcántara is set to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. If he dominates there, the comeback narrative won’t just be speculative. It’ll be visible.
For the Marlins, this season doesn’t hinge on whether Alcántara becomes trade bait. It hinges on whether he becomes himself again.
If he does, Miami doesn’t just have a bounce-back story. They have a rotation anchor. They have credibility. They have something far more powerful than rumor fuel.
They have their ace back.
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