JUPITER—Flight, workout, game, game, flight, start. The week in the life of Sandy Alcantara has been a doozy.

“I got here last night at midnight, so my daughter was kicking me out of my bed,” Alcantara joked to the media on Thursday afternoon. “A little rest and just get here, go out there and do my best.” Lack of sleep or not, Miami’s rotation mainstay was certainly at his best in Miami’s 2-0 win over Houston.

Alcantara retired all nine Astros he faced in order, recording four strikeouts and four groundouts. Outside of a 14-pitch at-bat to Isaac Paredes in the first, Alcantara only threw 29 pitches. The 30-year-old diversified his pitch mix, throwing each of his six offerings at least four times, with the sinker and slider taking center stage with a combined four whiffs. Not to be lost in the fray was Alcantara’s new toy, the sweeper, registering a single whiff on five pitches.

“The movement—that’s what (we’ve) been looking for since we started throwing it,” said Alcantara of the sweeper. “The movement had to be first. Then you got to combine your location. So, I think today, the movement was the first important thing, and the command was good today. So I feel great about it, and just get on, keep getting better.”

Next for Alcantara—and the reason why his past five days had been so hectic—is the World Baseball Classic. It’s his second opportunity to represent the Dominican Republic on such a stage after previously competing in 2023.

“Very excited, just to be out there wearing my country’s jersey, represent my country. It’s (an) amazing opportunity for me. I can’t wait to be out there.”

Alcantara left Marlins camp on Sunday to join Team DR at loanDepot park for workouts, and flew to his home country for two exhibition games against the Tigers. After bearing witness to possibly the most electric baseball one could see, a flight back late Wednesday night set up Alcantara to go on Thursday.

“We had an amazing game over in the DR against Detroit,” said Alcantara. “Incredible fans, a lot of kids enjoying those moments. Now it’s time to work. I think the chemistry, the relationships that we’ve been creating the first day that we get together is amazing. Everybody seemed happy, happy to win. Tomorrow is the first game, so we’re gonna be ready.”

 

Notes and Quotes

– Robby Snelling did indeed “flush” his previous outing in Clearwater. The southpaw sat down six of his own after Alcantara’s departure, including striking out the side of Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Paredes in his first inning of work. “Felt really good,” said a visibly happy Snelling. “When you go out and you feel like all your stuff’s working for you, you’re gonna feel really good. I know that that is what I’m capable of doing every time that I go out, and even though that’s not necessarily what’s going to happen every time you go out, it’s always nice when everything kind of meshes together. Huge bounce bounce back from last week.”

– Karson Milbrandt tossed another scoreless inning in the ninth, striking out Tommy Sacco Jr. to end the contest.

– Xavier Edwards exited Thursday’s game with left calf tightness. “I don’t think it’s anything major,” said McCullough of his leadoff man’s status. “But, I just felt like that was enough to get him out. Still thinking that he’ll plan for him to come back and play tomorrow as part of the back-to-back. We’ll just see how he feels after the day and how he comes in tomorrow.”  

– Before his departure, Edwards recorded half of Miami’s RBI with an excuse-me single down to the opposite field. The Fish added their second courtesy of an Esteury Ruiz single off of old friend Steven Okert.

– Continuing a refreshing trend, Marlins baserunners swiped five bags on the day. “Craig Driver (Miami’s new first base coach) has been working since we started spring training,” said McCullough. “In the morning with guys and working on their technique and something that we feel like we have an athletic team, and the ability to run and to be aggressive is something that we feel is going to pay dividends for us offensively. No better time than now for players to put some work in on it in the morning, and then when you get chances in the game to go, try to figure out the timing and let your technique play out in a game setting.”

 

Up Next

The first night game of Miami’s spring circuit is on the horizon, as the Fish welcome the Mets to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Friday at 7:10. Max Meyer, with plenty hanging in the balance in 2026, takes the ball for his second appearance of the spring.

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