Sandy Alcantara by the numbers: How Marlins ace has become the best pitcher in baseball in 2022

David Suggs

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Sandy Alcantara by the numbers: How Marlins ace has become the best pitcher in baseball in 2022 image

Who is the best pitcher in the league? It's a loaded question, admittedly.

There are some clear candidates that come to mind at first. It's hard to look past a healthy Jacob deGrom, who was on pace for one of the greatest pitching seasons ever before going down with inflammation in his throwing elbow last year.

Max Scherzer, Corbin Burnes, Kevin Gausman and Zack Wheeler have all made compelling cases over the past few years, as well.

But no hurler has been better than Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara in 2022. The 26-year old has been phenomenal nearly MLB's All-Star break, blending a nasty mix of pitches with incredible stamina and durability.

MORE: Breaking down the 2022 MLB Cy Young odds

Alcantara has been a man on a mission this season. And as a result, he's the clear-cut frontrunner for the NL Cy Young as we approach the halfway point of the season.

So how good has Alcantara been this year? Sporting News takes a look at the numbers behind Alcantara's rise to prominence.

Sandy Alcantara by the numbers

123.1

Rising velocity has coincided with pitchers getting pulled from games far earlier than in previous years. In the past, it was practically a necessity for starting hurlers to exceed 200 innings to give themselves a chance at winning the Cy Young Award.

For comparison, excluding shortened seasons and seasons where the Cy Young was won by relievers, last year was the first season that both winners of the Cy Young Award had less than 200 innings of work.

The league is changing. But in the age of dwindling pitch counts and increased reliance on the bullpen, Alcantara is a breath of fresh air. He's pitched a league-leading 123.1 innings so far, nearly 20 innings more than second place (Robbie Ray with 104.1 innings).

Alcantara's willingness to go deep into games has been a sight to behold. And frankly, there's no one on his level in terms of endurance. Peep these numbers:

Alcantara has pitched at least seven innings in each of his last 11 starts, according to Fox Sports. That's simply unprecedented in this day and age. And it's a big reason why Alcantara has emerged as the league's finest pitcher in 2022.

101 mph

Sandy Alcantara throws gas. His Baseball Savant page reads like a bushel of cherries — red all over. Alcantara is in the 89th percentile in chase rate and 96th percentile in fastball velocity.

All of that came to pass on Tuesday. Alcantara was dealing all night against the Angels. He struck out Mike Trout twice — two of his 11 punch-outs on the night.

But I'd venture to say Alcantara didn't have a better pair of pitches than this 101 mph fastball he pumped past Taylor Ward in the top of the seventh inning.

That's filthy. Alcantara hit triple digits two other times in the eighth inning. And according to Codify Baseball, Alcantara became the first starting pitcher to accomplish that feat after the seventh inning this season. Because that's just what Alcantara does.

56.5%

We typically associate high velocity with strikeouts. And for good reason.

But here's the thing: Alcantara is not a strikeout pitcher. At least not in the traditional sense. Yes, he gets his fair share of K's — he had 201 last year.

But Alcantara only averages 7.8 K's/9. That pales in comparison to high-heat hurlers like Dylan Cease (13.08 K's/9), Shane McClanahan (12.17 K's/9) and Gerrit Cole (11.28 K's/9).

So how does Alcantara do it? He coaxes weak contact.

Alcantara has a 56.5% ground ball rate, according to FanGraphs. That's the third-best ground ball rate in the league among qualified pitchers.

Simply put, Alcantara doesn't let hitters get good contact on the ball. He sits in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and in the 89th percentile in barrel rate.

Alcantara is a whiz at forcing batters to hit the ball softly. And that is bore out in the stats: he's given up just six homers in 123.1 innings, while his home-run-to-fly-ball rate is just 6.3 percent, the fourth-best rate in the league.

1.82

Sometimes, the best way to quantify a pitcher's effectiveness is the simplest, too. ERA doesn't always tell the whole story about a pitcher's dominance. But it can be a useful tool.

And with a 1.82 ERA, Alcantara stands head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Alcantara has the third-best ERA of qualified pitchers — only the Dodgers' Tony Gonsolin (1.54) and McClanahan (1.74) are better in that regard.

Still, I'd argue Alcantara has been the best of the three pitchers. Gonsolin has only thrown 81.2 innings this season — or over 40 innings less than Alcantara. Meanwhile, McClanahan's ERA+, which normalizes pitchers' ERA by taking into account external factors like ballpark dimensions and opponents, is 204. Pretty good, right? Well, Alcantara's ERA+ is at 228. Advantage Sandy.

4.8

Ah yes, WAR. That beautiful, beautiful stat that aggregates player's contributions by detailing how much better a player is than the average, replacement-level player at his position.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. But Alcantara stands out in that aspect, as well. The Dominican Republic native has a 4.8 bWAR. Not only is that better than any other pitcher in the league — nearly a full win better than last year's unanimous AL MVP winner Shohei Ohtani. But Alcantara has the best bWAR among any player, pitcher or position player, so far this season.

That's more than Paul Goldschmidt, the presumptive NL MVP favorite.

MORE: Paul Goldschmidt is having the best season of his storied career

That's more than Nolan Arenado, one of the best two-way players of his generation.

That's more than Max Fried, the closest pitcher to Alcantara, who still sits a win away from Alcantara's bWAR total.

Simply, Alcantara has been the standout player at his position in the league. And it's for this reason that he is the best pitcher in baseball...at least until deGrom returns.

David Suggs

David Suggs Photo

David Suggs is a content producer at The Sporting News. A long-suffering Everton, Wizards and Commanders fan, he has learned to get used to losing over the years. In his free time, he enjoys skateboarding (poorly), listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and D’Angelo, and penning short journal entries.