The St. Louis Cardinals have had their struggles producing homegrown pitching–and Sandy Alcantara just rubbed it in.
Alcantara, 30, is in the midst of his ninth season with the Miami Marlins. He’s been their franchise starter since his breakout year in 2021.
This season, Alcantara has been about average. He holds a middling 4.18 ERA through 16 starts, and a mere 0.9 WAR.
Beyond his season numbers, however, he just accomplished something historical.
MLBONFOX recently made a post on Instagram.
They wrote: “1,002 strikeouts for Sandy Alcantara, the most strikeouts in Marlins history!”
Alcantara shoved against the Phillies, tossing six frames and only allowing two earned runs. He earned himself a quality start and a franchise record in the process.
It’s extra special that Alcantara hit the milestone this season, as he’s been thrown around in a litter of trade talks.
Whatever Miami decides to do with Alcantara, fans in St. Louis will have missed out on some special years of production.
Social Media Reacts to Alcantara’s Season
Here’s what people are saying:
Just Baseball: “Sandy Alcantara in 5 starts this month: 34.2 IP 2.60 ERA 1.04 WHIP 29 K | 6 BB After posting a 7.39 ERA in May, Sandy has come back with a strong start to June.”
PaceBall: “Sandy Alcantara is pitching today for the Miami Marlins (vs. Texas Rangers). Last start: 6.0 IP | 2 ER | 6 K | 1 BB Home stats: 3.42 ERA | 1.08 WHIP | 6.32 K/9 Season stats: 4.18 ERA | 1.24 WHIP | 6.71 K/9 #FightinFish.”
Isaac Azout: “It’s very frustrating to me how the Marlins mishandled that monumental moment for Sandy Alcantara. He’s given his all to this franchise and the videoboard was about a minute tardy on acknowledging the record. Didn’t acknowledge it when he tied it either. Made it an awkward situation for Mack, Sandy and the entire crowd.”
Underdog MLB: “Sandy Alcantara is the Marlins new franchise leader in strikeouts after recording No. 1002. Alcantara franchise ranks: WHIP – 3rd, CG – 3rd, Wins – 3rd.”
Vik | BoxTheBase: “Sandy Alcantara is on the verge of setting a new franchise strikeout record tonight, and I think not enough people are talking about this It’s not just about the record, but everything Sandy has meant to this team over the years.”
Stephen Strom: “Former Marlin Ricky Nolasco joins me tonight on Marlins On Deck at 6:00pm on @Wqam and here’s why… Sandy Alcantara enters tonight’s start with 998 strikeouts…just four shy of surpassing Nolasco for the franchise record. @MarlinsRadio.”
St. Louis Right Now
The Cardinals dropped their most recent game to the D-Backs by a score of 4-3.
Although pitching wasn’t a problem in this one, it has been all season in St. Louis.
The Cardinal rotation is full of young arms who were highly touted prospects. In particular, Matthew Liberatore has been a major letdown for the Cardinals this season. They’re still waiting for him to get back on track.
The starting pitching woes have had a concurrent effect on the bullpen, which has crumbled in recent games. Without innings from the rotation to lean on, the whole staff falls flat.
Cardinals fans will always have to look back on the Alcantara trade until the new front office rectifies past mistakes.
Former Cardinals Starter Breaks Marlins’ Franchise Record