Alcantara feels ‘blessed’ after first Cy Young, thanks those who helped along the way

Sandy Alcantara on Wednesday became the first pitcher in Miami Marlins history to win a Cy Young Award, taking home the honor in unanimous fashion.

“It means a lot, not just being the first Marlin — [it] being my first one has made me feel so special,” Alcantara said, “because I came here to the Marlins with my positive mentality to try to win, try to compete, try to get better. This year, I put [in] everything, working hard, and you guys can see I got great success. And now I won the National League Cy Young. I feel so happy and blessed.”

But Miami’s ace didn’t get there alone. He had a support system on the field and a slew of inspirations away from it that drove him to be successful.

Here are a few of them.

His family

The importance of family to Alcantara can be seen by the message stitched on the outside of his glove is a simple yet powerful message.

“RIP Mom & Lexi”

Alcantara’s mother, Francisca Montero, died last July in the Dominican Republic. His brother, Alexander (who went by “Lexi”), died in a motorcycle accident not long after Alcantara made his MLB debut.

He wanted to honor them this season and beyond. Having them alongside him every time he threw seemed the most fitting.

“When you lose important people like that, like your mom and your brother, you have to respect them,” Alcantara said during spring training. “I was really close to my mom and my brother. I’m going to be remembering them for a long time.”

As Alcantara walked off the mound each inning this season, he cradled his glove in his arm like a baby. There’s symbolism behind that. When Alcantara speaks of the last days of Montero’s life, he references how she carried him as a baby and how, in her final days, he carried her.

“I know my mom is there,” Alcantara said. “She’s watching me. She died last year, but she didn’t die in my heart. I’ll always remember my mom as a captain. She always tried to make everyone happy.”

Alcantara also had several key pieces of his family — his father, wife, son and one of his brothers — with him at his home when he was announced the Cy Young Award winner.

Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.

Alcantara always had the pure stuff and the pitching repertoire to be successful, but it took the work of pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. to help unleash Alcantara’s potential.

For four years, Stottlemyre did everything he could to get Alcantara to become who he is today. Stottlemyre has had a front-row seat to Alcantara’s evolution from a pitcher with four quality pitches but was timid and sometimes struggled with execution to being aggressive regardless of the situation or opponent.

“He’s shown his commitment to excellence with his unwavering work ethic and tenacious fight to win,” Stottlemyre said. “I’ve watched him blossom into one of the game’s best; now, he is a household name.”

Catcher Jacob Stallings

Alcantara had the luxury of knowing who was going to be behind the plate every time he pitched.

Jacob Stallings, acquired by the Marlins in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates last December, caught all 228 2/3 innings and all 3,248 pitches thrown by Alcantara this season.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Alcantara and Stallings are just the fourth pair of battery mates to share every pitch of a Cy Young winner’s season. The others: The 1977 Phillies’ Tim McCarver and Steve Carlton, the 1993 Cubs’ Damon Berryhill and Greg Maddux and the 2019 Astros’ Robinson Chirinos and Justin Verlander.

“Jacob is a tremendous guy and a tremendous catcher,” Alcantara said. “He’s good. He called me the right way. ... Without Jacob, I can’t be here to celebrate this award. It’s something that we won together. It’s not just myself. Jacob was that guy who was behind the plate every day for me.”

Himself

Alcantara’s success came amid another trying season for the Marlins. While Alcantara had individual success, the team has a whole finished with a 69-93 record — their fourth losing season in five years under the Bruce Sherman ownership group.

Despite this, Alcantara knew he had to stay upbeat, stay optimistic and stay committed. He is one of the team’s leaders and had to show that by example.

That meant going to the mound every five days and being their ace, putting in maximum effort even if the performance didn’t guarantee a win.

“They’re my teammates,” Alcantara said. “We played hard. I know it’s hard to win games, especially when you had the kind of team that we had with a lot of young guys.”