Alcantara shows flair ahead of Classic start

ST. PETERSBURG -- Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara’s last tuneup before the World Baseball Classic didn’t turn out how he wanted, if only because he hates coming out of any game early.

“I think, anytime I get on the mound, that this is my spot. I don’t want to leave the game, and that’s why I get so mad when they take me out of the game,” said Alcantara, who led the league in innings pitched (228 2/3) and complete games (six) last season.

Alcantara was pulled with two outs in the third inning of the Marlins’ 5-1 loss to the Rays. Although he allowed just one earned run, Alcantara allowed plenty of traffic on the basepaths thanks to two singles, two walks and a hit batter.

“Everything felt good,” he said. “The behavior was good. Using the strike zone was good. It was just a couple walks, and I can’t really do anything about that.”

“Typical Sandy, I think he had all three or four pitches working today with the two-seam and four-seam,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He gave up a leadoff walk and gets the double play right after it. I thought it was a really good outing before the Classic that he is going into.”

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Alcantara will now head to Fort Myers to join the Dominican Republic team, which also includes Marlins teammates Jean Segura and Johnny Cueto, before opening Pool D play against Venezuela on March 11. Alcantara is expected to start that game for the Dominican team in the familiar confines of loanDepot Park in Miami.

“I know we are close,” Alcantara said. “I’m trying to not think about it. It’s just another game. I’ve just got to take care of business first here with the Marlins and then prepare to pitch on Saturday.

“I want to represent my country. It’s something that I was waiting for.”

The Marlins may be without their ace for up to two weeks as the star-studded Dominican team is expected to make a deep run in the tournament. Neither Shumaker nor Alcantara think the Classic workload will affect the pitcher’s preparations for the regular season. Alcantara credits his intense offseason workouts -- which he continued after winning the Cy Young -- for having him ready to go extended outings this early in the spring.

“He was at 50 pitches today. Next outing he’ll go 65 at the WBC, so I think he is right on par with what we’d be having him do here,” Schumaker said. “I don’t bet against Sandy. I think he is going to be just fine. If there is going to be one guy that’ll be ready, it’ll be Sandy. Not only for the D.R., but for the Miami Marlins.”

Fresh battery mate
Monday was Nick Fortes’ first time catching Alcantara in a game situation. Despite entering his third season with the big league club, he had only been behind the plate for Alcantara in bullpen sessions.

“It looks just like what it does from the side, it's electric,” Fortes said of seeing Alcantara at game speed. “It’s just like playing a video game back there. His stuff is so good, you can call any pitch at any time. It’s a lot of fun.”

In 2022, Alcantara pitched exclusively to catcher Jacob Stallings, who caught all 3,248 pitches of his Cy Young season. It was just the fourth time in MLB history that a Cy Young pitcher had only delivered to a single catcher all the way through the season. Previous winners with only one catcher includes Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver (1977), Greg Maddux and Damon Berryhill (1993), and Justin Verlander and Robinson Chirinos (2019).

Another rough outing for Fulton
Dax Fulton, the Marlins’ No. 4 prospect, continued to have a rough spring, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings of work. He did manage to strike out two of the 11 batters he faced.

“Every outing is a learning lesson for these guys and this is part of his growth,” Schumaker said. “Spring Training. First big league camp. You kind of find out what you're made of and who you are. You kind of want to see these things happen.”