When you look the landscape of the MLB and what players could be coming back from adversity, there is a long list. Everyone in the baseball world is just hoping for a healthy year out of both Mike Trout and Jacob deGrom. Those are true legends of our sport. You also want to see a good year out of Trevor Story and even a bounceback year from Shane McClanahan. One thing we do know, is Sandy Alcantara is back and he welcomed himself back in great fashion.

Sandy Welcomes Himself Back

Oh how we’ve all missed you Sandy. People forget how good he was because he was out due to Tommy John surgery. From 2018-22, he never finished with an ERA above 4.00 and in the last three years has surpassed the 200 strikeout rate twice. Truly a dominant pitcher that was also 19th in Stuff+. But finally, Marlins fans and baseball fans everywhere got to see what was one of the better pitching matchups on Opening Day.

Alcantara vs Paul Skenes was without a doubt appointment television. A CY Young favorite and a Comeback Player of the Year favorite got to go head to head. Skenes was very good through his innings of work, striking out seven batters and allowing three hits and two runs in 5.1 innings. Alcantara was on a shorter leash, as the Marlins have hinted at that, but he’s gone ahead and delivered and showed the world how good he is.

Overall, Alcantara was a machine. The velocity was very evident with him, seeing himself top out at 99.8 MPH, which was a very small tick behind Skenes’ 99.9. Furthermore, he generated 16 swing and misses, which also tied Skenes. This was just a small blip on the radar, as Sandy did a lot of great things under the hood.

Alcantara was able to utilize all the tools in his shed. His most used pitch was his sinker and he also mixed in his change up and of course the four seam fastball that topped out at 99.8 MPH. His change up was his best pitch that finished with a 50% whiff rate. He heavily threw his sinker against right handed batters and still finished with a 25% whiff rate with his pitch.

It isn’t just the stuff under the hood, it’s how he utilized that stuff in a short span. Alcantara pitched just 4.2 innings and struck out seven batters. He allowed two hits and two earned runs and between him and Skenes, they kept the score close for their entire outings.
Sandy was efficient enough, throwing 91 pitches and 57 going for strikes.

For a pitcher that is just returning from surgery, he sure made good on his return.