Alcantara called up for Marlins debut

Another future piece of the puzzle is coming to Marlins Park. 
The Marlins are calling up No. 92 overall prospectSandy Alcantara from Triple-A New Orleans and plan to start him Friday against the Mets, the organization announced Wednesday. That outing will be Alcantara's first career start with Miami after making eight Major League relief appearances with the Cardinals last season.

"He's got a great arm," said Derek Jeter, the Marlins chief executive officer. "We wanted to take our time with him, and give him an opportunity to continue to develop. The one thing we've said, the best players in this organization are going to get an opportunity to play. He's obviously one of our top prospects."
The 22-year-old right-hander posted a 3.71 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with 64 strikeouts and 34 walks over 85 innings in 14 Pacific Coast League outings. He's been especially solid lately, having thrown quality starts in each of his last two outings on June 16 against Sacramento (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 6 K) and last Saturday at Memphis (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K). 
"You want to see constant progress," Jeter said of the Minor Leaguers. "You want to see them moving in the right direction. You talk about Sandy, he got some time in the Minor Leagues, in New Orleans. We've seen him progress the first few months of the season, and he deserves this opportunity."
Alcantara was acquired by the Marlins last December as part of the four-player return for All-Star outfielder Marcell Ozuna and became the system's top pitching prospect. He's achieved that status on the strength of his plus-plus fastball, which has touched triple-digits, but he's also received above-average grades on his slider and changeup.

Despite his impressive arsenal, Alcantara has yet to rack up strikeouts like a typical fireballer, but his 50.8 percent groundball rate with New Orleans was his highest with any full-season affiliate. Also, his home-road splits in the hitter-friendly PCL tell a better tale of his season as a whole. While Alcantara has posted a 2.41 ERA in six starts (37 1/3 innings) at home with New Orleans -- a pitcher-friendly park -- that stat jumps up to 4.72 in eight starts (47 2/3 innings) on the road, where he's pitched in hitting havens like Salt Lake, Colorado Springs and Omaha.
"You want to have patience with guys, but they've been developing fairly quickly, which is fun for us to see," Jeter said. "It's great for us as an organization. You look at the players we've acquired, whether that is via trade or the Draft in previous years. They're developing. We have a lot to be proud of."
The Marlins had an opening for Alcantara in their rotation with Dan Straily suspended and José Ureña (right shoulder) and Caleb Smith (lat) on the disabled list.