The Cy Young’s of the Sunshine State

Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara and Tampa Bay Rays star Shane McClanahan rank at the top of all major league pitchers and have made the case to be this year’s Cy Young award winners. The two have been pivotal to their teams and have rocketed to becoming the top pitchers in the game.

Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins

This season, Alcantara was voted into the All-Star game for the second time in his career. The Marlins towering 6-foot-5 inch starter has been giving hitters fits this season. He is sitting with a 1.76 ERA, the best of his career, and an improving look from his 3.19 ERA last year. His record of 9-4 also gives him the best winning percentage of his career thus far at .692. His WHIP, 0.904, is also a career best and it has gotten better each year since his first season in 2017. He also is top five in the National League in strikeouts with 123 thus far.

Alcantara has given opponents a mix of his off-speed slider and newly developed fastball. He has utilized a left to right slider topping out in the high eighties and low nineties. He also throws heat with his fastball that has averaged at around 98 mph this season. His rotation of off speed and lightning fast pitches has batters rattled. He also has been masterful at working the strike zone, getting players to chase his pitches often; he is currently in the 91st percentile for chase rate in pitching.

The Marlins are 43-48 and sit fourth in the NL East. On paper, it does not seem great, however, Miami is just 5.5 games outside of the wild card in a tight race in the National League. Alcantara will be key in keeping games close down into the later part of the regular season. He has done that so far and is very much in the National League Cy Young award discussion if he keeps this up.

Shane McClanahan, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have suffered a tough injury bug this season which has plagued both the batting lineup and pitching staff alike. Some of the pitchers in Tampa Bay hurt include Jalen Beeks, Shane Baz, Nick Anderson, Tyler Glasnow, and then some. Manager Kevin Cash really needed a man to step up and McClanahan has done just that. He made an appearance at the 2022 MLB All-Star game, starting for the American League. Despite giving up a couple of hits and a homer to Paul Goldschmidt, it was an incredible accomplishment as it was the 25-year-old’s first All-Star bid.

McClanahan leads baseball with a 1.71 ERA this season and is tied with Gerrit Cole for the second most strikeouts in the American League with 147. McClanahan’s success has come from his breaking ball. He has taken control of a right to left slider, a deadly pitch for the lefty. His curveball and changeup also hits in the 80 mph range and the excessive use of off-speed keeps batters on their toes. He also is very accurate with his sweeping curves and sliders as they both hit the strike zone at least half of the time, making those going against him highly uncertain of whether or not to swing. Like Alcantara, McClanahan also has a developing fastball that has come alive this year, with the average speed of these pitches clocking in at 97 mph.

The Rays can sit more comfortably about the injury problems now that they have an ace that does not give up runs and can tally up numerous strikeouts each start. The team is sitting in the first wild card spot and has teams like Seattle, Toronto, and Boston nipping at their heels to be where they are. McClanahan’s dangerous breaking ball may be a key factor in Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes staying afloat, especially with injuries to their batting lineup. With an ERA and a strikeout total like he has, he is definitely in the mix for an American League Cy Young.