For most of April and May, Miami Marlins fans dreaded watching Sandy Alcantara‘s starts. The former ace was a liability to his own team, hindered by inconsistent control and the lack of finish on his pitches needed to generate whiffs. He had the worst results of any qualified MLB starting pitcher during that stretch. It hurt to see him consistently getting embarrassed.

Beginning in June, there were reasons to be hopeful about Alcantara, but still not confident. He beat up on some soft opponents, only to get shelled by more experienced lineups. At least he got the green light to work deeper into his outings.

Over these last three starts, including Tuesday’s seven strong innings against the Atlanta Braves, there has been a meaningful shift. Alcantara looks like a complete pitcher again. He’s been experimenting with his mechanics and pitch usage to great effect. His changeup is back to being a deadly putaway pitch. He isn’t letting occasional mistakes or unlucky breaks snowball into big rallies. You now tune in expecting a quality performance rather than being surprised when it happens.

It was widely reported that the Marlins had discussions with other teams about the possibility of trading Alcantara last month, but they weren’t going to part with him easily. It was always just a matter of time until he got comfortable in his own skin again. Imagine what it would’ve felt like to “sell low” on him and experience this from afar.

Less than a month after the trade deadline has passed, Miami’s decision to stand pat with Alcantara has been validated.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville lost. 8-5. In his latest rehab game, Connor Norby went 1-for-3 with a walk. Joe Mack hit his 15th home run. Double-A Pensacola lost, 4-3. Kemp Alderman homered for the 14th time. High-A Beloit lost, 2-0. Karson Milbrandt has had back-to-back 10-strikeout games. Low-A Jupiter won, 7-6. Great slide by Andrew Salas to score the decisive run in extra innings.

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More Marlins news and content below:

🔷 The complete 2026 Major League Baseball regular season schedule has been released. The Marlins kick it off with consecutive series hosting the two worst teams from the 2025 season, the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox.

🔷 Sean McCormack explained how he would he construct the Marlins lineup once Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley return from their respective injuries.

🔷 On this day in 2005, Mike Lowell hit his first career walk-off home run.

🔷 Troy Johnston has agreed to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic for the third year in a row. On the strength of an excellent homestand, Johnston has boosted his overall offensive production to a league-average level (99 wRC+).

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the New York Mets announced that their top pitching prospect, Jonah Tong, will be making his major league debut on Friday against the Fish. Yordan Alvarez returned to the Houston Astros lineup after nearly four months on the injured list. Nathan Eovaldi suffered a rotator cuff strain that will likely end his season. The Athletics have emerged as MLB’s most dangerous spoiler with an American League-best 20-10 record over their last 30 games.

🔷 Today’s MLB game: it’s the 13th and final head-to-head meeting of the season between the Marlins and Atlanta Braves (probable starters RHP Ryan Gusto and LHP Joey Wentz). Wentz has generally pitched his best on the road (3.32 ERA), though he limited Miami to one run in 5 â…“ innings earlier this month at Truist Park. The Marlins have a 44.4% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 1:10 p.m. ET.

 

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