Marlins’ Alcantara says he’d be ready if season started now. They’ll need him to be

Sandy Alcantara says he doesn’t need three weeks to get ready for Opening Day.

“I’m ready,” the Miami Marlins’ hopeful ace proclaimed Saturday after throwing a four-inning live batting practice session at Marlins Park. “... If the season was tomorrow, I’d be ready to go.”

The season, obviously, does not start tomorrow. The Marlins start their 60-game sprint of a regular season either July 23 or 24, with the full schedule expected to be released early next week.

But at the very least, it’s promising for the Marlins that Alcantara is in baseball shape.

Alcantara, who dominated during his final 10 starts of the 2019 season, was trending toward being the Marlins’ Opening Day starter for 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic put the sport on hold for three-plus months.

Alcantara looked steady in his four innings on the mound, during which he faced the likes of Miguel Rojas, Jesus Aguilar, Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, Magneuris Sierra and Harold Ramirez.

He gave up some hard contact during his first live stint of organized team workouts, but also showed steady command.

“We’re going to surprise a lot of people this year,” said Alcantara, echoing the optimistic sentiment the organization has been preaching this week. “... You’re going to see what we’ve got.”

Alcantara and the starting rotation will play a big role in making that proclamation become reality.

The Marlins are hoping their young starting staff — one projected to include Alcantara, Caleb Smith, Pablo Lopez, Jose Urena and likely one of Jordan Yamamoto or Elieser Hernandez — to take a needed jump in development over the two-month season. Miami also has a host of top pitching prospects such as Sixto Sanchez, Edward Cabrera, Nick Neidert, Braxton Garrett, Trevor Rogers, Jordan Holloway, Jorge Guzman and 2020 first-round pick Max Meyer as part of their roster pool.

“We have a lot of young guys on the farm,” Alcantara said. “You better keep working hard to get your opportunity.”

Smith and relievers Yimi Garcia, Adam Conley and Nick Vincent each also threw during Saturday’s round of live batting practice.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly noted that the team’s starting pitchers were built up to about five innings when spring training stopped. They are around that range as well now, a testament to their work during the shutdown and a needed effort put in since they only have three weeks to get ready for the season.

Hard hits

While eyes were focused on pitchers getting their first live action, a pair of the Marlins’ hitters also impressed on Saturday.

Most notable among them was Harrison, the Marlins’ No. 9 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline who showed off his blend of contact and power against two of the Marlins’ top pitchers.

He struck a hard-hit ball against Alcantara to shallow center field in his first at-bat before hitting a home run off Smith later on.

Rojas also showed some pop throughout the day, hitting at least one home run during an earlier round of batting practice against a pitching machine before homering to left-center off Smith. Rojas rounded the bases and had some socially-distanced celebrations with Diaz near second base and Jorge Alfaro and Aguilar at home plate.

Using ‘every inch of the facility’

The Marlins already have a slew of hurdles to address while they undergo their three weeks of training camp to ensure they are limiting exposure and spread of the coronavirus.

Another one to factor in for the 40-plus players who are primarily using Marlins Park for practice: Only having one field to work with.

Sure, there are batting cages and bullpens (both of which need to be used with social distancing in mind), but infield and outfield drills are limited to only a few players at a time.

“We’re making sure we were within the protocols and keeping guys socially distanced and using the whole facility,” Mattingly said Friday. “Taking advantage of every inch of the facility.”

That was on display during the Marlins’ first two practice sessions on Friday and Saturday ahead of the eventual Opening Day at the end of the month.

In addition to staggering practices and limiting each session to about 20 players, the Marlins are utilizing both clubhouses for practices so that there is enough space between used lockers. Pitchers and position players warmed up on the opposite sides of the field. Pitchers were on the third-base line, position players down the first-base line.

“I feel like once we kinda start getting things rolling again, everything will kind of just fall back in place on its own,” Diaz said. “Everything is just kind of, just trying to adjust right now to what’s going on and how we’re going to go about the practices and going forward with the season.”

But Mattingly ultimately stressed that he feels comfortable at Marlins Park, which will also allow players to get into their routines for when the season starts.

“I think the plan is good, but we have to execute it as our organization, us individually, we’re all responsible in this thing to take care of yourself, to wear the mask, to keep your hands clean,” Mattingly said. “There’s lots of little things that we’re all responsible for independently, as a team, as an organization and as a sport.”

This and that

▪ In light of the announcement Saturday that four players in the 60-man roster pool tested positive for COVID-19, including three over the past two weeks and one during Wednesday’s intake screening, Mattingly said he does not anticipate the Marlins having to make roster moves to replace players who they might not have for Opening Day. He did note, however, that there could be players who move from Jupiter to Marlins Park to fill out spots while they wait for those who test positive to return.