The Miami Marlins aren’t playing in the 2026 MLB playoffs. After a promising start to the season, they eventually settled into a middle-of-the-pack role that saw them head home after the final day of the regular season.
Despite that, the Marlins are currently having a fascinating impact on the proceedings in the postseason, with both the Cleveland Guardians and San Diego Padres in particular employing a strategy Miami used late in the season to great effect with ace Sandy Alcantara.
There are often fancy pitching strategies used in the playoffs that are rarely used in the regular season, but in this case, the Marlins provided a sneak peak at the end of the 2026 campaign.
Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara Starter-Reliever Strategy
The Marlins did something quite unusual with their ace righty Sandy Alcantara down the stretch of the season: They brought him out of the bullpen for a pair of saves.
He didn’t miss any turns through the starting rotation, either. These were like bonus outings.
The Marlins actually did it once with 6-foot-8 right-handed starter Eury Perez, as well.
The Marlins appeared to be testing whether a starting pitcher could throw his so-called “bullpen day” in an actual MLB game.
Starting pitchers in professional baseball generally have one hefty bullpen workout in between starts. It’s a chance to refine mechanics and stay sharp while also keeping the arm active rather than just not throwing at all for four or five days.
That’s been the approach for decades as teams have relied more and more on relief pitching in recent years while trying to avoid injuries to their key starting pitchers.
The only time starting pitchers ever came out of the bullpen, at least the top-notch starters, was to be a hero in the playoffs. There’s also the opener-into-bulk pitching approach that isn’t what this is.
Nope, the Marlins were bringing in their starters on their assigned bullpen day, using the pitches they were going to throw anyway during game action instead of out of sight.
It’s now been used multiple times in the MLB playoffs.
Guardians, Padres Use Starters on Bullpen Days
The Padres did it first, earlier this week using Michael King out of the bullpen on what would’ve been his usual work on the side day and getting six outs from him with regular closer Mason Miller on the paternity list. King would’ve been available to pitch his usual start day if the Padres hadn’t been eliminated the next day.
The Guardians then did it on Thursday night with Gavin Williams. He’s still slated to start ALDS Game 5 on Saturday, but Thursday was his bullpen day and he threw 18 pitches to get three outs in the ninth inning to force the decisive fifth game.
It’s not yet clear if this is a sustainable long-term strategy, but teams definitely are thinking about those bullpen days as usable if needed.
Obviously, pitches in a high-intensity playoff game are more stressful than those thrown in a quiet bullpen session, so the effects of this will still need to be watched.
But clearly, the Marlins were onto something. Other teams are trying it, too.
Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara Starter-Reliever Pitching Strategy Trends in MLB Playoffs