Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara shares tough injury news

“With a heavy heart, I want to let everyone know that I had ‘Tommy John’ surgery today and will miss next season,” Alcantara wrote in his post. “I am most saddened for the great Marlins fans who were so supportive of me and the team this year. The drive to the playoffs was thrilling for all of us.

“I give this game my all, I give this city my all,” Alcantara added. “And so I promise I will not take a day off as I push to be back better than ever. I will miss pitching, but I plan to be around the team as much as possible.”

Alcantara, 28, had developed into the Marlins’ undisputed ace and won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022. He did regress some this season (going 7-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 28 total starts). But that may have been in part due to Alcantara’s injury situation as he missed the final month of the year with forearm and elbow issues. (That ultimately ended up being a UCL sprain, thereby necessitating the Tommy John procedure.)

With Alcantara now set to miss all of 2024, Jesus Luzardo will likely step into the No. 1 role for Miami with Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera, Eury Perez and Trevor Rogers (all of whom are 26 or younger) picking up the slack too. The Marlins may also opt to sign another starting pitcher in free agency. But regardless, this is yet another recent Tommy John blow to a talented MLB pitcher.