Alcantara headlines Marlins staff that 'can compete against any other'

JUPITER, Fla. – Not many clubs can withstand the loss of two quality starters. The Marlins believe they can be the exception.

Despite Miami dealing Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers over the offseason, manager Clayton McCullough looked around the clubhouse of the newly renovated Marlins Jupiter Academy on Wednesday morning and still saw “an incredible amount of arm talent.”

Ability and potential generate hope, but results matter most. Those will determine whether the Marlins – like the 2025 iteration – can defy external expectations. This time around, Miami doesn’t want to fall short of the postseason but be part of the dance.

“Our pitchers and our ability to pitch at a very high level is going to be the backbone of our teams, and it will be the backbone of our success this year and moving forward, and much of our playoff aspirations and hopes year after year will come down to your ability to pitch,” McCullough said before the first pitchers and catchers workout. “And I don't think that I'm the only one saying that. To win championships, you have to be able to pitch and defend. And it starts with talent, which we have, and then having people that can enhance that ability to help them get better.”

Leading the staff is right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who enters his eighth season with the organization after an offseason of trade rumors.

This spring, Alcantara hopes to regain his ace status after a disappointing return from Tommy John surgery in 2025. If he can do so, that lessens the absences of 2025 breakout star Cabrera and Weathers. From June 13 through the remainder of the season, Marlins starters tied for the 12th-most fWAR (6.6) in the Majors.

“I'm super excited to be back this year,” Alcantara said. “More strong, and more healthy, and more competitive than last year. Last year, my mind was blocked, because I was thinking too much about media, doing great on the field, so I was doing bad and everything. But this year is completely different. I had Tommy John two years ago, so now I feel like I'm a brand new man. Don't think too much about what happened last year. Just come here this year and do my best.”

Like last spring, the Marlins wasted no time at the beginning of camp. Lefty Braxton Garrett, who is returning from his own Tommy John procedure, faced Graham Pauley, Javier Sanoja, Liam Hicks and Connor Norby on a back field during live batting practice.

Although Garrett was a mainstay in the rotation before his December 2024 procedure, he knows his spot in the rotation isn’t guaranteed. The landscape has changed since he last pitched. Following Alcantara in the rotation will be mentee Eury Pérez, then a group of pitchers competing to fill out the staff.

Miami reportedly signed Chris Paddack to a one-year Major League deal, gave starts to Janson Junk, Adam Mazur and Ryan Gusto and added Bradley Blalock to the 40-man roster. Top 100 prospects Thomas White (No. 17) and Robby Snelling (No. 39), both of whom are lefties, are knocking on the door and present at camp as non-roster invitees.

“We're a really talented group,” Garrett said. “Obviously Sandy, Eury, Max [Meyer], we got the two lefties who were in Triple-A last year [in] Snelling, Thomas White. Really talented guys. It's not a bad thing that we have some depth, that's for sure. Excited to work with those guys and compete with them.”

Meyer, whose 2025 season ended prematurely in early June due to left hip surgery, threw a pitch design session after Garrett. Southpaw reliever Andrew Nardi, who hasn’t appeared in a game since August 2024, tossed a bullpen with president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and others looking on.

While there were notable subtractions over the offseason, these pitchers returning healthy -- not to mention the free agent signing of proven late-inning arm Pete Fairbanks -- would help offset those departures.

The Marlins will need more than 13 pitchers to get through a 162-game season and more if they make the postseason like they aspire to. That long journey began on Wednesday, when the entire crew except for right-handed reliever Calvin Faucher (arbitration case) showed up to camp.

“As long as you're healthy, you can all compete, and that's what we're asking -- God to keep everybody healthy so we can compete this season,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I think our group can compete against any other group around the league.”