Pirates-Marlins Opening Day starting pitchers: Skenes vs. Alcantara

For the second year in a row, the Pirates and Marlins will open their season at loanDepot Park, but with different Opening Day starters this time around.

This year’s pitching matchup will feature the National League’s Cy Young Award winner in 2022 (Sandy Alcantara) versus a preseason favorite for the 2025 Cy Young (Paul Skenes). The two clubs are at different stages of their rebuilds, but this has the makings to be one of the best Opening Day pitching matchups. The first pitch on March 27 is at 4:10 p.m. ET.

Here’s more information on what these two pitchers have to offer:

RHP Paul Skenes
Previous Opening Day starts: N/A
2024 season: 11-3, 1.96 ERA, 133 innings pitched, 170 strikeouts

After winning Rookie of the Year, starting an All-Star Game and finishing in the top three for Cy Young in his debut campaign, Skenes will kick off his first full season in the Majors with an Opening Day start.

Skenes will be 22 years, 302 days old when the season kicks off, making him the youngest Opening Day starter for the Pirates since at least 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He’ll be the youngest Opening Day starter for any team since Miami's José Fernández in 2014, too. It’s yet another example of how rapid his ascent has been, becoming one of the game’s brightest young stars.

Last year, Skenes led all NL starters with at least 130 innings pitched in strikeouts per nine innings (11.5), strikeout percentage (33.1%), WHIP (0.95), strikeout rate minus walk rate (26.8%) and ERA (1.96). His 170 strikeouts also set a new franchise rookie record.

After adding “splinker” to the baseball world’s vernacular last year, Skenes has added a cutter and a two-seamer this year, making his pitch mix even more robust. When you sprinkle in triple-digit fastballs as well as plus secondary offerings, Skenes has as solid an arsenal as anyone in baseball. The only question is: Can he improve on his stellar rookie campaign? This Opening Day start is the first step towards finding out what his sophomore season has in store.

RHP Sandy Alcantara
Previous Opening Day starts: 2020-23
2024 season: Did not pitch

The ace is back and ready to deal.

Alcantara, who spent the 2024 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, will return to the mound for his franchise-leading fifth Opening Day start. Miami has gone 1-3 in his previous assignments but through no fault of his own: He has given up just six earned runs over 23 1/3 innings, for a 2.31 ERA.

Although opposing hitters won't be happy to see Alcantara staring back at them again, the baseball world is better off with one of the Majors' top arms healthy. At the time of the first arm-related injury of his career, Alcantara led all qualified Major Leaguers with 858 1/3 innings pitched since 2019, including back-to-back 200-plus-frame seasons from '21-22. Despite missing the final month of the '23 season, as the Marlins clinched a NL Wild Card spot, Alcantara still ranked first in complete games (10), second in quality starts (66) and sixth in FanGraphs WAR (14.1) from '20-23.

In an ever-evolving starting pitching discipline, Alcantara is a unicorn. He is the epitome of a workhorse, a pitcher from a bygone era.

The 29-year-old Alcantara hasn't missed a beat so far this spring, quickly regaining his Cy Young form by regularly flirting with triple-digit velocity and flashing nasty secondary stuff. Miami’s young and inexperienced roster -- none of the club's other starting pitchers have thrown at least 100 innings in a MLB season -- will look to Alcantara to lead the way.