DENVER -- The Marlins are trending in the right direction as the sun sets on their 2025 season. But if they are going to continue making strides forward in ’26, they’ll need their former ace to regain the form he had when he won the National League Cy Young Award in ’22.
Sandy Alcantara has looked more like his 2022 self recently, and that continued in Thursday afternoon’s 9-7 win over the Rockies at Coors Field to cap a series sweep and Miami’s seventh victory in eight games.
Before things got wild at the end, the right-hander went 6 2/3 strong innings at the most hitter-friendly venue in the Majors -- and a place where Alcantara has historically struggled, with a 7.56 ERA over three previous starts. He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks to go with eight strikeouts. He owns a 2.70 ERA over seven starts since Aug. 15.
“The two-seamer was great,” Alcantara said. “The cutter was nasty today. The first inning was OK. The second inning, [I had] a little bit of trouble -- maybe the ball was slipping. After that inning, I just put my mind in the right place and tried to be aggressive with my best pitch.”
For manager Clayton McCullough, it wasn’t a question of “if” Alcantara would rediscover what made him so dominant earlier in his career, but “when.”
“What we’ve seen from Sandy the last six or seven weeks, the stretch of starts he’s put together, is what he and everyone expected,” McCullough said. “We knew that it was going to potentially take some time for him to get back into the rhythm of things after the [Tommy John] procedure and the rehab, and all the time missed.
“What he’s doing now, we all expected and knew it was going to happen at some point.”
Given that it’s happening, along with the way the Marlins are playing as they close out the 2025 campaign and the players they expect back next year, it’s hard not to wonder whether this club might become a surprise contender sooner than anticipated.
If this version of Alcantara is what we see next season, together with Eury Pérez -- who has shown glimpses of dominance amid an up-and-down sophomore season -- and injured hurlers Edward Cabrera (3.57 ERA in 24 starts this season) and Braxton Garrett (3.66 ERA over 159 2/3 innings in 2023), a formidable rotation could be forming in South Florida.
On the position-player side, breakout star Kyle Stowers (.912 OPS with 25 homers), NL Rookie of the Year candidate Agustín Ramírez, fellow rookie sensation Jakob Marsee and Xavier Edwards -- who was vying for a batting title until a mid-August downturn -- could lead an improving lineup.
“You can see it,” Alcantara said. “ ... The position players, they’ve been great, hitting the ball hard. Pitching[-wise], Eury, Cabrera, me, Braxton is coming back next year, healthy. So yeah, besides that, everything feels good.”
Alcantara was backed on Thursday by a big game at the plate from Liam Hicks, who went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the third inning and a two-run single in the seventh.
Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernández also homered -- Lopez went back-to-back with Hicks in the third with a Statcast-projected 446-foot shot over the wall in left-center field, and Hernández belted a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth. Troy Johnston and Dane Myers each added an RBI single to help finish the sweep.
Marsee and Ramírez each had a pair of hits, with Ramírez doubling twice to become the first rookie in franchise history with at least 30 doubles (31), 20 homers (21) and 10 steals (12) in a season. He also became the second rookie catcher in MLB history to have 20 or more home runs and 30 or more doubles, joining Geovany Soto (23 homers, 35 doubles in 2008).
After Alcantara departed, Tyler Phillips tossed 1 1/3 scoreless frames before Valente Bellozo surrendered four runs in the ninth. But Calvin Faucher entered and managed to get the final out.
As the Marlins head to Texas amid a hot stretch, it can be fun to dream about what might be on the horizon.
But there are nine games to go in 2025.
“We feel like we have more clarity on things right now than we did at the beginning of the season,” McCullough said. “But we’ll just try to finish this one strong here before we get into ’26.”