The New York Mets just faced off against an elite pitcher who they’ve been linked to in trade rumors, and his performance was off the charts.
Mets battled against Marlins star righty Sandy Alcantara
MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola reported this about Alcantara’s return to the mound against the Mets on Sunday:
“Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara took the mound for the first time in 521 days, maxing out at 99.3 mph on the radar gun and tossing a scoreless inning in Sunday afternoon’s 1-1 Grapefruit League tie with the Mets at Clover Park,” De Nicola wrote.
Further, De Nicola shared this quote from Mets manager Carlos Mendoza about facing off against the former 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner:
“Pretty good, and that’s what you want to see. You want to see the best players in the game on the field. It’s been a long year for him rehabbing and today, I’m pretty sure it was a big deal for him — first time out there after what he went through,” Mendoza said.
“First pitch, I think it was 97 [mph]. He was consistently hitting 98, 99 with life — the Alcantara that we’ve seen in the past. Good players, that’s what you want to see, the best players in the game competing between the lines.”
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Alcantara could be great frontliner for Mets
The two-time All-Star’s breathtaking velocity was the story of his start. That level of stuff clearly caught the attention of Mendoza, and may stick with him and the front office this season.
New York was recently linked to Alcantara by Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer. Marlins president Peter Bendix stated that even though the 29-year-old talent is a major part of their roster, their front office will listen to everything set before them.
Thus, that leaves the door open for the Mets to put together a compelling trade package for him. Alcantara went for 151 strikeouts and a 1.213 WHIP for the Marlins across 28 games in 2023. A year prior, he won the Cy Young off the strength of his 207 Ks, 2.28 ERA, MLB-leading 8.0 WAR, and 0.980 WHIP. Alcantara also threw a mind-boggling six complete games and a shutout.
A workhorse with elite stuff, commendable efficiency, and precision in the strike zone could be the final piece that the Mets need to win a World Series. He’d be worth making a sizable investment in, especially with Sean Manaea’s latest injury compounding with Frankie Montas being out until May, which serve as devastating blows to their rotation.