This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MIAMI – Luis Castillo. Miguel Cabrera. Giancarlo Stanton. Robb Nen. Dontrelle Willis. Sandy Alcantara.
Over the weekend, Alcantara took his rightful place on the franchise leader wall at the Marlins Museum located on the Legends Level of loanDepot park.
So far this season, Alcantara has overtaken Ricky Nolasco for most strikeouts and innings pitched. He also has the most wins (30) at the Little Havana ballpark.
The Marlins wasted no time commemorating those accolades, setting up the vinyl wallpaper on Thursday ahead of the homestand. Alcantara, who was taken to see the fifth-floor tribute on Friday afternoon, got emotional in doing so.
“That's great,” Alcantara said. “As soon as I just got there and saw myself hanging on the wall, I was close to crying, because I think that's an incredible memory for me, especially here in this organization because I remember when I came here in 2018. I was like 21 years old, trying to stay in the league, on the rotation, and seeing myself over there was an incredible moment for me.”
There is an asterisk at the bottom noting that the totals reflect the record-setting marks. That’s because Alcantara has already added to the strikeout (1,058) and inning totals (1,250 2/3). The plan is to place the updated stats through 2026 on the wall before next season.
During Monday’s series opener against the Red Sox, Alcantara notched another milestone by tying Nolasco for most starts (197). If Alcantara, who has a club option for 2027, gets his way, there will be more to come.
“If I stay here for a couple more years, maybe I will break every record,” Alcantara said. “It's going to be a great opportunity to me to come here every day.”
As part of the annual Dominican Republic Heritage Celebration on Saturday, the Marlins showed a video of Alcantara’s accomplishments over his eight seasons with the club. On June 12 in Pittsburgh, he became the fifth active Dominican-born pitcher with at least 1,000 career strikeouts.
“Time goes fast,” Alcantara said. “When they put the video on the screen, the first face that I saw was my 2018 face: skinny, baby face. I feel very happy and blessed to keep myself here, especially in this organization, and I’m always going to be grateful for all the opportunity. And now, looking different, strong, getting old, breaking records. I always want to feel good about this organization for all the opportunity.”
Each achievement has come with a postgame champagne toast and keepsakes. Alcantara keeps them all, plus memorabilia from legends like Albert Pujols’ bat, in an office at his house.
“I have like a lounge where you can sit, rest, watching TV,” Alcantara said. “I have all my bats and ball and jersey hanging. I think I need more space to keep all this stuff.”