MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara’s final start of the 2021 season on Friday came with mixed results.
He hit yet another milestone in a breakout season, becoming just the fifth pitcher in Miami Marlins history to throw at least 200 innings and record at least 200 strikeouts in a season.
He also gave up four runs over five innings in a 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami’s 14th shutout of the year and one that drops them to 65-95 with two games left in the regular season.
But Alcantara’s entire body of work across a breakout season shows his promise as the 26-year-old continues to make a push toward being one of MLB’s top starting pitchers.
“I did great,” Alcantara said of his season. “Sometimes I had bad outings, but I never give up. I keep myself in a great position. I’m positive all the time. I’m here. I’m feeling healthy. That’s what I want. That’s what I was looking for. I feel great. I feel blessed.”
In 33 starts this season, Alcantara posted a 3.19 ERA, a .233 batting average against and 1.07 WHIP (walks and hits per inning) over 205 2/3 innings. All of those marks rank in the top 15 in baseball this year among qualified starting pitchers.
Remove two poor outings — a 10-run shelling in 3 2/3 innings against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 6 and an eight-run, 1-1/3 inning performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 14 — and Alcantara’s season ERA drops to 2.47.
Alcantara also struck out 201 batters while walking just 50, a 4.02 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is the 14th-best among starting pitchers.
His 23 quality starts, defined as throwing at least six innings while giving up no more than three earned runs, is second in MLB this year behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Walker Buehler.
Even more: Alcantara had 10 games this season in which he pitched at least seven innings and gave up no more than one earned run, a mark matched only by the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler
“Sandy continues to understand himself more and more,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He has become more in a sense independent on calling his own game, doing his own prep, doing the work that he needs to do.”
Alcantara recorded his milestone 200th strikeout by getting Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez to whiff on a 90.5-mph slider below the strike zone in the fourth inning on Friday.
The group he joins: A.J. Burnett (204 1/3 innings, 203 strikeouts in 2002), Ryan Dempster (226 1/3 innings, 209 strikeouts in 2000), Kevin Brown (237 1/3 innings, 205 strikeouts in 1997) and Al Leiter (215 1/3 innings, 200 strikeouts in 1996).
Two other pitchers, National League Cy Young Award contenders Wheeler and Buehler, have also accomplished the feat this season.
Alcantara surpassed the 200-inning mark for the season in his previous start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 25.
But just like against the Rays, Alcantara’s latest milestone came on a night in which he couldn’t help his team win. He gave up five runs (three earned) against the Rays when he hit 200 innings. On Friday, he gave up three runs in a 30-pitch third inning — a frame in which he hit the first two batters he faced and gave up runs on an Odubel Herrera single, Bryce Harper double and Didi Gregorious sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field — and allowed a fourth run in the fifth on a Harper home run.
“He was really frustrated with that,” Mattingly said. “It kind of tells you why he’s good. It’s the last outing of the year in a game that doesn’t have any consequences on anything other than just your season and that you finish it out right. That frustration tells you that’s why he’s good.”
Alcantara’s take on it: “I feel bad for myself because I only threw five innings. I’m that guy who wants to be outside. I lost the game and only threw five innings.”
The Marlins have relied on Alcantara to be their workhorse for the better part of the last three seasons. He was an All-Star in 2019, with his performance picking up in the second half of the season. He evolved into their opening-day starter in 2020 and began stepping up as a leadership presence in the clubhouse while fine-tuning his craft. And in 2021, he continued to elevate his game while also mentoring some of the Marlins’ up-and-coming pitching prospects.
“From our standpoint,” Mattingly said, “you know how valuable he is.”
The front office will soon have a decision to make. Alcantara is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason. He is under team control for just three more years.
