Shaking off the gloom of the 2025 season, "Fish King" Alcantara pitches a Maddux-style complete game shutout.

Miami Marlins ace starter "Fish King" Sandy Alcantara could not avoid the discussions surrounding him during his struggling 2025 season. In this era, the high-profile debates from experts on locker room TVs and the endless negative messages on social media are impossible to evade.

Thus, this right-handed pitcher returning from Tommy John surgery decided to change his mindset. He focused all his energy on staying healthy and competing wholeheartedly for the team every five days.

This change allowed Alcantara to regain his peak form in his first two starts of the 2026 season. Today at Miami's LoanDepot Park, he pitched his second career Maddux-style complete game shutout (a Maddux refers to a shutout completed with fewer than 100 pitches), also his fifth career shutout, helping the team crush the Chicago White Sox 10-0.

“I've gone through a lot,” Alcantara said. “Last year started poorly, and I only found my rhythm in the second half. Many people said many negative things; I tried not to dwell on them, just taking the mound every five days and doing everything I could to help the team win.”

By game count, this is the earliest shutout of the season so far. The last earlier shutout was pitched by Nathan Eovaldi in the Rangers' sixth game last season. The most recent shutout was pitched by Sonny Gray of the Cardinals in Cleveland on June 27 last year.

As the longest-tenured player on the Marlins, Alcantara is steadily climbing the franchise's historical lists. His number of shutouts ties Kevin Brown, ranking third in team history; his complete game count (13) is just one shy of A.J. Burnett for second place. Since 2022, his 10 complete games also lead all MLB pitchers by at least two games during that period.

“Today was Sandy's day. Watching him pitch into the ninth inning and standing there, reflecting on the time since I've known him—how much he struggled at the start last year, which is already well-known,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He never gave up, always competed. This shutout might hold a more special meaning for him than previous ones.”

The 30-year-old Alcantara's last shutout was on April 4, 2023. In this game, he needed only 93 pitches (69 strikes) to handle the young and aggressive White Sox lineup—the opponents secured two outs on the first two pitches. He allowed only three hits, all singles, including a bunt single, and struck out seven batters.

After hitting Miguel Vargas with a pitch with two outs in the fourth inning, Alcantara consecutively retired 16 batters, until Luisangel Acuña singled with two outs in the eighth inning. Because he used only five pitches in the eighth, he entered the ninth inning with just 84 pitches thrown.

Unlike the opening game, where McCullough pulled him early because Alcantara had only pitched up to five innings during spring training, the decision to let the ace continue today was easy. McCullough gave Alcantara a thumbs-up and received the same response.

Assistant pitching coach Rob Marcello was responsible for pitch selection in the dugout; throughout the game, Alcantara shook off his head only three times. When he fell behind 0-2 to Lenyn Sosa, he used a newly practiced slider-cutter to induce a high pop-out in the infield, a pitch he wanted to regain after missing with one earlier in the at-bat. Then he struck out Andrew Benintendi with three signature changeups, and finally ended the game with a 97.9 mph four-seam fastball that forced Colson Montgomery to ground out.

“Sandy was truly dominant,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Credit must be given to him. We had a solid plan before the game, and the players were engaged and fought hard, but we were simply beaten by an exceptionally talented pitcher. It's that straightforward; we had no answer for him. His pitch quality was outstanding, he consistently attacked the strike zone, leaving us completely stifled… no chance at all.”

In his first two starts this season against the Rockies and White Sox, Alcantara totaled 16 innings allowing only one run (unearned), with seven hits, 12 strikeouts, and just two walks.

This version of Alcantara is a positive sign for the Marlins. Last season they narrowly missed the playoffs, while Alcantara ranked second in ERA among qualified starters. Led by Alcantara, the Marlins have won five of their first six games for the first time since 2014 (excluding the pandemic-impacted 2020 season). Next, they will travel to the Bronx to face the Yankees over the weekend.

“This game was fun,” catcher Liam Hicks said, who contributed four RBIs in the series finale and currently leads MLB with 12 RBIs. “All his pitches were working. Sitting behind the plate watching him pitch like that was really cool and made my catching job much easier.”