'Just got to keep positive': Alcantara looking to regain confidence

ANAHEIM – Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara will go back to the team hotel following Friday night’s 7-4 loss to the red-hot Angels at Angel Stadium and rest. He won’t think too much about his latest start because that won’t do him any good. Instead, he will return to the ballpark on Saturday and get back to work seeking better results.

For the fifth time in 10 starts, Alcantara was chased mid-inning – this time in a three-run sixth – to continue an uncharacteristically poor run since his return from Tommy John surgery. During this stretch, it always seems to be one pitch or sequence that turns an otherwise encouraging outing sour.

“I don't know, man,” Alcantara said. “I think I'm just getting stuck in the same inning. Just got to keep positive, keep working the way that I've been. Whatever people say or think, I will keep battling every inning out there. …

“Like I said, I think I'm just stuck there, so maybe [I] miss too much in the middle, maybe try to be too perfect, but I don't know. So I’ve just got to keep working and keep believing in myself. I know that as soon as I get through that inning, I know everything will change, because I believe in myself.”

It all started in the sixth inning of a 3-0 ballgame with Alcantara at 80 pitches. He allowed a double sandwiched between a pair of walks -- the only two of his start. Then on a 2-2 count to Jorge Soler, Nick Fortes was called for catcher’s interference to score a run.

After a forceout at home, Alcantara hit Travis d’Arnaud with a secondary offering to score another run and chase him. An inherited runner would come home and end Alcantara’s final line at 5 1/3 innings, six hits, six runs (five earned) and six strikeouts on 100 pitches.

“Unfortunately, there's some luck on both sides that go into all of this, whether that's some balls finding holes or inopportune times when things don't go your way,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “That's unfortunately how it goes sometimes, maybe kind of in one of those little ruts right now, but I think the ball will turn his way. It'll go because he's going to continue to come out and keep going. And I think we'll just continue to highlight a lot of the positives we're seeing in this outing. It's been like one inning, the last really three or four starts that have kind of made it look a little bit differently. So it'll turn his way. It'll turn his way for us here soon.”

Up until that point, the Angels hadn’t mustered much against Alcantara. Taylor Ward took him deep in the second on a 98.3 mph four-seamer. In the fourth, the Angels opened with back-to-back hits through the right side of the infield before Ward’s sacrifice fly and Logan O’Hoppe’s RBI double.

"Taylor got us on the board,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “When you think about who he was facing tonight, this guy's a tremendous pitcher. Even though he's coming back from Tommy John, he's still a tremendous pitcher. But Taylor got us started with the opposite-field home run that let us know that he wasn't invincible."

While the Angels went into the series opener acknowledging Alcantara’s credentials, the man himself downplayed them. He doesn’t feel much like that version of himself at the moment. His 8.04 ERA is the highest among Major Leaguers with double-digit starts.

There is more to it than just the results. Take Alcantara’s pitch usage. In years past, the sinker and changeup have been his bread and butter. Both have been thrown less this season, including on Friday.

Why is that the case?

“I don't know, maybe I don't have the same confidence,” Alcantara said. “I think my four-seam was playing great in the past three starts, and just got to think what I have to do to get better results. Maybe on my next bullpen working more on my two-seam and changeup and see what happens.”

But how can that be considering Alcantara’s resume?

“Doesn't matter who you are, you know?” Alcantara said. “I know I won the Cy Young in 2022, but that's passed away, so I’ve got to think of my future. I’ve got to think on my next day, just keep working in a way that I would be working, so I know one day everything will change. And one day, people will think differently of me.”