If the Cleveland rotation wants some liveliness back in their rotation, they need to look to this award-winning arm.
Let's face it: the Cleveland Guardians need an ace.
They haven't really had one since Shane Bieber went through his dominant spiel in the second half of the 2019 season and the entirety of the COVID-plagued 2020 and up until he had Tommy John surgery last year, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2024 season and the 2025 season up to this point.
And even then, he wasn't the bonafide strongarm that Corey Kluber was, but both of them still brought Cy Young Awards to Cleveland and the Guardians need someone that can continue that trend in a durable and dominant fashion.
And that someone might be just like Bieber, a Cy Young winner recently put on the shelf thanks to Tommy John surgery.
That someone is Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara.
Alcantara, when healthy, is one of the best pitchers in the league, as shown from his numbers when he won the National League Cy Young Award back in 2022.
His 228.2 IP were the most in the majors that year, and he also threw six complete games, both stats a testament to the former Cardinal's durability.
And he made the most of those innings, striking out 207 batters and posting a 2.28 ERA.
Like we said, Alcantara is also recovering from Tommy John, which could allow the Guardians to offer a multi-year deal with incentives and not have to break the bank for hundreds of millions for an elite arm once it heals.
With younger arms like Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams entering their primes, Alcantara's leadership could allow them to reach the heights that he and Shane Bieber have seen amongst baseball's best arms and give the Guardians one of the most dominant 1-2 punches on the mound in the league.
Of course, once they're healthy.
Category: Baseball
