Offishial News: Can Sandy Alcantara do that again vs. quality competition?

You could see it on his face during the postgame media scrum—Sandy Alcantara was proud of the job he did during Tuesday's Miami Marlins win, and rightfully so. Alcantara worked six scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, only getting better as the start progressed. The command of his sinker was especially sharp and he attacked the strike zone with conviction. What a difference from the pitcher who looked completely lost two weeks ago in San Diego.

However, I still believe it's premature to say that Alcantara is back to being a reliable starter again. In 2025, we have only seen flashes of excellence from him when facing offensively challenged teams like the Pirates, Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies. Even in his best outing to date, he got away with some hittable four-seamers and uncharacteristically induced more fly balls than ground balls, which seemed unintentional.

Alcantara's next three starts are likely to come against the deeper lineups of the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks. If he navigates that stretch without any blow-up starts, then I'll be convinced that a corner has been turned.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 18-0. A Josh Simpson-led bullpen game carried a no-hitter through six innings. Jakob Marsee went 4-for-4 with three stolen bases and a walk. Double-A Pensacola won, 6-0. Jacob Miller dominated (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 85 pitches/48 strikes). High-A Beloit won, 6-1. Low-A Jupiter won, 4-3. Andrés Valor has matched a career-high with his current eight-game hit streak. Julio Mendez set a career-high in strikeouts (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 86 pitches/57 strikes). FCL Marlins won, 7-6. PJ Morlando continued his rehab assignment by going 0-for-2 with two walks and playing right field. DSL Marlins lost, 2-1. DSL Miami won, 3-2. José Castro, who led the team with five home runs in 2024, had his first career multi-homer game. Thomas White and Josh Ekness were named to MLB Pipeline's Prospect Team of the Week.

More Marlins news and content below:

🔷 Lake Bachar was recalled from Triple-A to fill out the Marlins active roster. He was used sparingly with the Jumbo Shrimp, throwing just three innings since being optioned on May 24. 

🔷 Kevin Barral discusses potential trade candidates Jesús Sánchez, Edward Cabrera, Anthony Bender and Ronny Henriquez.

🔷 Cade Gibson spoke with Nate Karzmer about embracing high-pressure situations like the one he faced in Saturday's Marlins win.

🔷 On this day in 2005, the Marlins rallied from five runs down against the Texas Rangers.

🔷 Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald examines the progress being made by the players that the Marlins received in exchange for pitchers they've traded away. Only the Kyle Stowers/Connor Norby/Trevor Rogers deal qualifies as a "rousing success" thus far.

🔷 Here is the special-edition cap that the Marlins will be wearing during Fourth of July weekend:

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the MLB Draft has historically spanned three days, but it's being condensed to two this year. The Toronto Blue Jays have won 11 of their last 13 games to surge into second place in the AL East. Cincinnati Reds lefty Andrew Abbott threw a shutout against the Cleveland Guardians as he enters NL Cy Young award contention. One of the best arms in the minor leagues, Jacob Misiorowski, will make his major league debut for the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.

🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Cal Quantrill) wrap up their series at PNC Park against the Pittsburgh Pirates (LHP Bailey Falter). The Marlins have a 43.5% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 12:35 p.m. ET. Full organizational schedule below.

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