Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara had to receive Tommy John surgery back in October, and that is one of the most severe injuries that baseball players go through. It takes a long time to come back from that surgery, and the Marlins will be without Alcantara for awhile. However, he made a big step on the road to recovery on Saturday.
For the first time since getting Tommy John Surgery, Marlins star Sandy Alcantara was able to throw for the first time. It wasn't much as he threw on flat ground at around 50 MPH, but it was still a huge moment for him and a huge moment for the Marlins.
“Last night, I can't even sleep, thinking that I have to be here, be ready to throw,” Alcantara said, according to an article from mlb.com. “Today was a great moment for me, throw a baseball for the first time since six months, so everything feels good. Hopefully, I've just got to keep doing everything I can to get ready and back as soon as I can. So I think I've just got to be patient and positive.”
This was huge for Alcantara. The recovery time for this surgery is a long one and he knows he won't pitch for the Marlins for awhile. However, this was the first thing he was able to do that was close to pitching. It was important to him, and he wanted people there to see it.'
“[Eury Pérez] was sitting next to me inside the locker room and I said, ‘OK, let's go outside to watch me. I've got to throw for the first time since six months. You've got to be there.'” Alcantara said. “And he went there, and you guys see the smile on his face.”
When Alcantara found out he had to get Tommy John surgery, it was a difficult moment. He know it would be a long time before he was back and playing with his Marlins teammates. However, now that he was able to throw again, he was happy.
“So everything is different,” Alcantara added. “When I got the news that I had to do a surgery, my mind, my face, everything changed. But today, I've got that smile that I used to have before, and I feel good today, because I got the opportunity to be out there and throw for the first time, and everything feels good.”
Skip Schumaker weighs in on the recovery
Sandy Alcanatara is expected to miss the entire 2024 season, so it's unclear when exactly he would make a return. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is confident that he'll be progress well, however.
“I think Sandy will be ahead of schedule most likely, just because of who he is and how hard he works,” Schumaker said before Alcantara’s throwing session. “Still a long way to go, but I think when you don't have any setbacks and you are progressing like he is, it's only a positive sign. There's a lot of dark days when you are going through a Tommy John surgery. The way he's going about it and still influencing and impacting his teammates, and then also being the guy that probably works out harder than anybody in the weight room, still, and doing his throwing progression, he's probably three or four weeks ahead of schedule. No one's surprised that Sandy's ahead.”
Getting back three or four weeks before he was originally expected to return would be huge for Alcantara. It's clear that he misses getting out there and going to battle with the Marlins, and he wants to be able to return the field as soon as possible.
Follow Us
Subscribe