Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, slugger Jorge Soler on IL as team continues playoff push

Two of the Miami Marlins’ top players are being sidelined as the team makes its final push for a postseason berth.

The Marlins placed ace and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara on the 15-day injured list and outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday ahead of their home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Alcantara is sidelined with what the team is calling a right forearm flexor strain, while Soler has a right oblique strain.

The timing of these injuries is far from ideal considering what’s at stake for Miami. The Marlins entered Wednesday just a half game out of the playoff picture with 24 games left to play.

“You never want to lose anybody,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “To lose arguably your best pitcher and Soler ... is not ideal this time of year, but these things happen in the game, and it gives another guy an opportunity to step up. And we’re gonna need whoever that is to step up because we’re right in the middle of this thing.”

Alcantara’s injury

Alcantara expressed some arm discomfort following his start against the Washington Nationals on Sunday. Alcantara said he felt the pain on the final pitch he threw in that game — an 83.8 mph curveball to end the eighth inning.

Marlins general manager Kim Ng said the organization is “awaiting further consultation” to find out the severity of the injury. Right now, Alcantara said he is able to do all of his normal exercises, but he is not throwing. There is no timetable for his return.

Upon exiting, Alcantara could be seen with Marlins head athletic trainer Lee Meyer before entering the clubhouse. When the club returned from Washington, Alcantara had an MRI in Miami on Monday. The results were shared with head team physician Dr. Mike Baraga, and the Marlins proactively also sent those results in for a second opinion with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in California. The opinion on the MRI from ElAttrache is still pending.

“Any time you lose your ace, the timing’s going to be difficult,” Ng said. “It’s obviously tough on him. We know what an ultra competitor and warrior he is. The timing’s never good.”

This is Alcantara’s first IL stint with the Marlins for an arm injury. He has been sidelined twice before in his Miami tenure, once in 2018 for an armpit infection and again in 2020 after testing positive for COVID-19. Alcantara also skipped one start earlier this season due to biceps tendinitis.

That skipped start came back in April. This time, Alcantara is sidelined in the thick of a playoff race.

“That’s the thing I’m thinking about the most, knowing the position my team is right now and not being there fighting is something that broke my heart,” Alcantara said. “But it is what it is. I just have to take it.”

On the season, Alcantara has a 4.14 ERA through an MLB-leading 184 2/3 innings. However, his ERA has dropped to 3.20 in his 10 starts since the All-Star Break, a stretch in which he has thrown two complete games and pitched into the eighth inning four total times.

Getting ‘creative’ with the rotation

With Alcantara sidelined and several of the Marlins’ starting pitchers — Eury Perez, Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett among them — either at or exceeding career inning numbers, Schumaker said the organization is going to “have to be creative” with how they navigate their pitching down the stretch.

The team recalled Edward Cabrera to take Alcantara’s spot on the active roster. Miami’s other starers include Perez, Luzardo, Garrett and Johnny Cueto. Bryan Hoeing and George Soriano are both options out of the bullpen who can throw multiple innings.

With that comes the balancing act of pushing the younger starters down the stretch and optimizing their workload to make sure they’re available should Miami make the playoffs.

“Sandy was the guy that definitely at up innings, just like Johnny Cueto,” Schumaker said. “That’s why it’s tough because when you have guys that go five innings or so, you kind of planned on Sandy going seven innings to fill that gap and help out the bullpen. ... It’s obviously not ideal that you lose Sandy, but it’s part of the game.”

Picking up Soler’s slack

As for Soler, he entered Wednesday leading the Marlins in home runs (35) and runs scored (71) while being tied for the team lead in RBI (71). He returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing five games with right hip discomfort.

“Similar to Sandy, Jorge — and all of these guys — want to be out there every day and they’re trying their best, given the time of year, to just play,” Ng said.

The Marlins will need a collective effort from the lineup in Soler’s absence.

They have received that on their five-game win streak, a stretch in which Soler played just one game. The team entered Wednesday with 12 home runs, 58 hits and 37 runs scored over this streak.

Seven players have hit at least one home run, with third baseman Jake Burger leading the way with four and Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz each hitting two.

“This is an incredibly resilient group,” Ng said. “That’s evidenced by their performance at different times of the year. I could definitely see them rallying together and knowing they’ve got to pick up some of the slack.”

With Soler sidelined, Burger and Josh Bell will primarily split designated hitter duties. Bell started at designated hitter Wednesday, with Luis Arraez playing first base and Xavier Edwards starting at second base.

The Marlins added utility player Dane Myers to the active roster in Soler’s place.

▪ In a separate set of moves, Miami designated for assignment right-handed pitcher Geoff Hartlieb and selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer.

Miami Herald senior baseball correspondent Craig Mish contributed to this report.