USA TODAY International Edition
Marlin is best ace you don’t know
Sandy Alcantara’s father doesn’t work anymore. At 59, Confesor Alcantara enjoys what his son calls a better life, in a big house, where he “doesn’t have to do anything,” a just reward after a life spent supporting 11 children through backbreaking farm work in the Dominican Republic.
Confesor’s middle child is seeing to that.
Alcantara is just 26 yet takes on the burdens of a man much older.
He is steadfast in his determination to support his family, an endeavor simplified by his growth into one of the best pitchers in baseball.
He’s just as quietly determined to wield his influence in that realm, where, as the last Miami Marlin remaining from one of three trades that helped tear down the franchise, Alcantara is committed to see the club’s rebuild through and provide an example for the younger members of their rotation.
For Alcantara, both roles only gain urgency.
In July, his mother, Francisca Montero, died after battling lung cancer, more than four decades after her marriage to Confesor. In 2018, the same year Alcantara made his major league debut, his younger brother, Alexander, was killed in a motorcycle crash in Santo Domingo. Alcantara’s own son, Yorlin Sadiel, is 7 now, the child’s name a combination of his own and that of his wife, Yorleni, who he’s dated since they were 13.
Their future feels significantly more secure after the Marlins signed Alcantara to a five- year, $ 56 million extension through 2026.
Despite the long- term stability, his growth into an All- Star has been accompanied by lessons in life’s fragility.
“I lose my mom, and I lose my little brother, and I don’t want to lose any more of my family. I gotta keep being there for them,” says Alcantara on a recent morning between starts. “When you lose somebody in your family, your life changes, especially when you lose your mom. My mom told me, be strong and be happy. I will never forget my mom because she was the one who brought me into this world.
“I feel so bad losing my mom. At the same time, I gotta be strong. Because I am here, to take care of my family.”
Becoming an ace
It’s a responsibility Alcantara was thrust into at 11, when his family, recognizing his baseball acumen, sent him from their more bucolic province of Azua to live with his older sister, Aridia, in Santo Domingo. From there, his story mirrors that of many gifted Dominican players: Alcantara joined forces with area talent scout Felix Liriano, who trained and fed him at his academy. Liriano alerted a St. Louis Cardinals scout, Ronny Jimenez, to Alcantara and he was signed for a $ 125,000 bonus in 2013.
His career was jolted four years later when the Cardinals made him the centerpiece of a five- player deal that sent outfielder Marcell Ozuna from Miami to St. Louis. It came three days after slugger Giancarlo Stanton was sent to the New York Yankees and less than two months before Christian Yelich was shipped to the Milwaukee Brewers.
An All- Star outfield, gone, in exchange for 10 prospects. Now, only Alcantara remains in Miami’s plans.
In an era when durable, reliable starting pitchers are scarce, Alcantara is a true horse: He was one of just four to top 200 innings pitched in 2021, including six outings where he completed at least eight innings and gave up just one run. Alcantara posted a 3.19 ERA, including a 2.21 mark over his final 10 starts.
This season, he has already blanked the Cardinals over eight innings and ran a scoreless streak to 17 1⁄ innings while
3 posting a 2.90 ERA.
Already gifted with a mid- 90s fastball, he has a legitimate five- pitch repertoire that has seen significant growth in his changeup as well as using a fourseam fastball to blow away hitters up in the strike zone.
“When I faced him in the past, it was mostly sinker- slider to righties, and everything’s going down,” says catcher Kevin Stallings, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason. “Now that he’s throwing the four- seamer at the top of the zone, it makes it really hard to hit. He’s been doing that a lot more to lefties. ... He’s always been talented, but he’s put the pieces together.”
Alcantara’s cumulative effect on the Marlins can’t be fully quantified, but it is evident. He wore the hard knocks of fronting a staff that would lose 105 games in 2019. He made the All- Star team and tossed a major league- best two shutouts, but also led the majors with 14 losses. The Marlins enjoyed a brief uprising in the pandemic- shortened 2020 season before losing 95 more games last year.
Meanwhile, a staff slowly took shape behind Alcantara and looks to coalesce this season: Right- hander Pablo Lopez was the National League’s pitcher of the month after posting a major league- best 0.39 ERA in April. Young lefty Trevor Rogers was the ’ 21 Rookie of the Year runner- up. Tantalizingly, prospect Max Meyer has a 1.71 ERA through five starts at Class AAA Jacksonville and should soon galvanize a club off to a 12- 12 start. Yet the group’s identity was forged through Alcantara.
“Without Sandy,” says shortstop Miguel Rojas, the club’s elder statesman, “there’s probably not a Pablo that looks like that. Sandy wanted to be the guy, wanted to take that role and responsibility of being the reliable guy in the rotation, every single day for the whole year. It’s not just because he has the numbers.
“I think it’s the fire in him, to want to be that guy, that he gets to the point he is right now, where he’s the rock solid of this rotation. A lot of the four guys feed off his energy, his routines.”
‘ I love this team so much’
For Alcantara, the pressure to provide is alleviated by a significant selfbelief. It helps to stand 6- foot- 5 and work downhill toward hitters expecting any number of offerings to emerge from his hands.
“I believe so much in my talent,” says Alcantara, whose confidence emerges from a laid- back delivery. “My talent is too good, so I say thank you, God, for giving me the talent. I just work on getting more nasty.”
Alcantara says the Marlins have faced a “long road,” yet a payoff may be nearing, befitting for a player taking care of one family back home and another that increasingly relies on him to carry them.
“They believe in me,” he says of the Marlins. “They gave me that role to be a leader, as a young guy, too. I feel good about it. ... I love this team so much.”