Alcantara, Marlins Pitching Staff Struggles in 16-8 Loss Against Nationals

Jupiter, Florida– The Miami Marlins hosted the Washington Nationals in their Spring Training home opener at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Miami’s ace, Sandy Alcantara, was on the mound making his first appearance of the Spring and entering his ninth season with the team. Although the end results don’t matter in Spring Training games, Miami’s pitchers today struggled with location and control from the very first inning.

“It was certainly not a well-pitched game, said Marlins Manager Clayton McCullough. It’s one of those where it’s nice to say it’s spring training and that we will continue to work and get better throughout camp. Today was just not a very great day for us from a strike-throwing perspective.”

Alcantara Looks to Bounce Back Before WBC

Sandy Alcantara will be making two outings for Miami before he leaves Spring Training to play for the Dominican Republic team at the World Baseball Classic. Alcantara only threw one inning today, but there is a lot to improve before he departs.

Former Marlins’ prospect Nasim Nunez led off the game with a single up the middle. The next batter, James Wood, drew a walk to give Washington runners on first and second. After facing just two batters, Alcantara already threw 13 pitches, unable to put them away quickly, an unfortunate theme for the remainder of his outing.

Daylen Lile was next in the Nationals’ lineup, grounding up the middle, and Otto Lopez saved a run with a diving play to throw Lile out at first base. With runners on second and third with one out, Brady House was at the plate, and on a 2-2 count, he blasted a 3-run home run to right-center field. Alcantara was up to 22 pitches with only one out and now trailing 3-0.

Alcantara was able to settle in on the mound, retiring the next two hitters on a strikeout and a flyout to deep center field. After a long first inning, Alcantara’s line was 27 pitches, gave up three earned runs on two hits, one walk, and recorded one strikeout.

After Alcantara pitched in the first inning, Miami used 10 more pitchers, with five of them unable to complete an inning of work. It was a day of lackluster control for Miami’s pitchers, who set a modern-era franchise record for a spring training game with eight wild pitches (dating back to 2006).

Sandy Alcantara shares his thoughts on his first outing of Spring Training and his pitch selection for today. @LemonCityLive #Marlins pic.twitter.com/JZnu5Lhz1L

— Alex “Milo” Aguirre (@aguirrethecap33) February 22, 2026

A Quiet Day of Offense… Until it wasn’t 

The Marlins’ bats went silent in the first eight innings of this contest, minus Deyvison De Los Santos. The corner infield prospect went 2-2 today with two singles, including an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, marking Miami’s lone run through the first eight innings.

De Los Santos can play either third or first base and is a name to watch, providing depth at a position Miami has little experience in. The Marlins addressed that position of need in the offseason by signing former Tampa Bay Rays, Christopher Morel.

Deyvison De Los Santos rips a single. pic.twitter.com/hYEQE8xWoq

— Stephen Strom (@SStrom_) February 22, 2026

Morel brings much-needed power to the team, hitting at least 21 home runs in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The catch, however, is that Morel has never played first base in his career, so De Los Santos might be called up sooner rather than later if the Morel experiment does not pan out.

Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Marlins are getting pummeled 16-1. With the everyday players and starters well out of the game at this point, Miami’s lineup flipped over to minor leaguers, and that’s when the offense erupted. Miami rattled off seven runs in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to a solo home run by Brendan Jones, a grand slam by Ethan O’Donnell, and a two-run home run by Jared Serna.

As mentioned, it’s a good thing the final box scores don’t count in Spring Training, and there’s plenty of time left before Opening Day to smooth things over. Miami looks to turn the page tomorrow against its Roger Dean Stadium neighbors, the St. Louis Cardinals, with Eury Perez on the mound.

About Post Author

Alex Aguirre

I’m Alejandro “Alex” Aguirre. I’m from Miami, Florida born and raised. I graduated from the University of Florida in 2019 where I received my Master of Arts in Mass Communication and Journalism and in 2017, I received my Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from Florida International University. When I’m away from covering sports, I enjoy traveling with my friends and family, going to local breweries, or playing NBA 2K and Warzone.

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