Two years in a row, the pitcher’s arm broke down, causing him to be on the operating table, despite putting in his all.
Last year’s National League (NL) Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara (28-Miami Marlins) underwent Tommy John surgery. He will miss the entirety of next season and is expected to return in 2025.
Alcantara announced on social media on Sunday that he underwent Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament in his right elbow. After going on the disabled list with a right elbow flexor strain on April 4 against the Washington Nationals, Alcantara ended up on the operating table. Tommy John surgery requires at least a year of rehabilitation.
“It was with a heavy heart that I underwent Tommy John surgery. I want everyone to know that I will miss the rest of the season,” he said. “I gave everything I had to the game of baseball and to this city. I promise that I will not take a day off to come back better.”
Alcantara continued, “I will miss throwing the ball, but I plan to be with the team as much as possible. I’m confident that pitchers like Jesus Luzardo, Yuri Perez, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett, and Trevor Rogers will keep the team in good hands,” he said in support of his fellow starters.
When Alcantara’s season-ending injury was announced, Miami pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said, “We all feel for him. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but Alcantara was a big part of our team this year. When he gets the ball, we know he’s going to go seven innings.”
A native of the Dominican Republic, Alcantara is a right-hander who averages 97.6 mph (157.1 km/h) with a strong sinker and changeup. 바카라사이트 He debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 and came to Miami after the season in a trade for All-Star outfielder Marcell Osuna.
Alcantara made the leap to ace status in 2019, earning All-Star honors in his first season as a full-time starter, and went 9-15 with a 3.19 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 33 games (205⅔ innings) in 2021, earning a five-year, $55 million extension with Miami.
He rode the momentum to his best season last year, going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 32 games (228⅔ innings), earning a unanimous NL Cy Young Award. He became the first pitcher in Miami franchise history to win the Cy Young Award. Most importantly, he pitched the most innings with a league-high six complete games. He threw more than 200 innings for the second straight year and was hailed as a rare complete-game innings-eater in an era that emphasizes pitcher management and protection.
This year, however, he has faltered, going 7-12 with a 4.14 ERA and 151 strikeouts in 28 games (184⅔ innings). He struggled early on, perhaps due to fatigue from the many innings he’s pitched in the last two years, or the effects of representing the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) a season ago. Alcantara rebounded somewhat in the second half of the season, and while he still led the team in innings pitched this year with three complete games, his stuff hasn’t quite matched the past two years.
When Miami reached the postseason for the first time in three years as the second NL wild card, Alcantara did not take the mound. He was placed on the disabled list and made a rehab start in Triple-A, but his return was short-lived due to recurring pain. He ended up going under the knife and is expected to return two years later.