Alcántara dominates Soto and declares himself ready for the 2026 season

Santo Domingo. — Dominican right-hander Sandy Alcántara closed out his spring training participation with a solid performance, striking out his compatriot Juan Soto twice and confirming that he is ready to take on the challenge of the 2026 Major League Baseball season.

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Both players, who recently shared a uniform representing the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, faced each other as rivals in Spring Training, starring in one of the most striking duels of the day. Alcántara worked for 4.2 innings, in which he allowed five hits and three runs, while he struck out six in the Marlins’ 4-3 victory. Beyond the result, the recovery of his strikeout ability stood out: he accumulated 16 strikeouts in 12.2 innings during the preseason. The face-off against Soto took place in three innings. In the first, the Dominican pitcher took him to a full count (3-2) before dominating him with an 84.6 mph sweeper. In his second at-bat, Soto responded with a hit to center field on a 2-2 count. However, in the fifth inning, Alcántara prevailed again, retiring him with an 86.5 mph cutter to seal his sixth strikeout of the game. 2022 Cy Young Award winner, Alcántara will be in charge of opening the Marlins’ Opening Day, when they face Colorado this Friday at 7:10 p.m.