No Marlins pitcher has won the National League Cy Young Award or started the MLB All-Star Game. Both could change this year with ace right-hander Sandy Alcantara as he's the clear -110 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook to win the Cy Young and might lock down the starting spot for the NL in next week's Midsummer Classic with another dominant outing against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies tonight. The Marlins are -165 favorites.
The NL manager for the All-St ar Game is Atlanta's Brian Snitker, and I would argue there are only three legitimate options as the starter for the Senior Circuit at Dodger Stadium next Tuesday: Alcantara and the Dodgers' Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw. Gonsolin's case took a big hit Wednesday when he allowed a season-high five runs in St. Louis to see his season ERA rise from 1.62 to 2.02, but he's still 11-0 because LA staged an incredible rally to win.
Kershaw is a solid 6-2 with a 2.40 ERA but has made only 11 starts. Starting him in his own stadium might be more of a career honor because the three-time Cy Young winner somehow has never started an ASG (how is that possible?) and this may be his last chance at age 34.
Numbers-wise, it deserves to be the 26-year-old Alcantara, who is 9-3 with an NL-best 1.73 ERA (second-best in franchise history through 18 starts of a season), a 0.91 WHIP that is third and 111 strikeouts (fifth). Over his last 12 starts, Alcantara is 7-1 with a 1.24 ERA, allowing only 57 hits and 13 earned runs over 94.2 innings while striking out 80. He has allowed more than two earned just once in that span.