Rare pitching duel on tap as Marlins, Pirates open season

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It will be a pitching matchup befitting Opening Day when the Pittsburgh Pirates meet the Marlins in Miami on Thursday.

Pittsburgh will send to the mound Paul Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year. For Miami, the starter will be Sandy Alcantara, the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2022, sidelined since Sept. 3, 2023, due to Tommy John surgery.

The matchup between the two right-handed fireballers is a rare one, too. According to MLB.com, this is only the second Opening Day clash between a reigning Rookie of the Year and a previous Cy Young winner. The only other time? Carl Morton, the 1970 NL top rookie, who started against Tom Seaver when the Montreal Expos and New York Mets played.

But this is a game of more than just starting pitchers. It features two teams that finished last in their respective divisions in 2024, one with a new manager and one with a manager who could find himself on the hot seat this season if marked improvement isn't shown.

The new manager is Clayton McCullough of the Marlins, who enters the season already with a short-handed lineup as he tries to turn around a 62-100 team.

He said Tuesday that third baseman Connor Norby will be out four weeks or so after being diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain. Also out with an oblique strain, probably into mid-April, is Jesus Sanchez, who hit 18 homers and 64 RBIs last season. He drove in 10 percent of Miami's 637 runs - worst in the NL.

McCullough said he feels for Norby.

"He was in a really good spot with Opening Day right here. Unfortunate for him to go down when he did. But hey, you know what? Guys will step up and get a chance in his absence," McCullough said. "We hope he gets back as quickly as he can. He'll do everything in his power to take care of himself and be ready when his body allows it."

On the other side, manager Derek Shelton is entering his sixth season with the Pirates never finishing above .500 or in better than fourth place in the NL Central. They are coming off back-to-back 76-win seasons.

Success for the Pirates will begin with the starting rotation, which will be led by Skenes and consist of -- at least to start the season -- Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, Bailey Falter and Carmen Mlodzinski.

"I think if you look at any team around the league, it starts with their pitching," Keller said. "If you've got good pitching, you're probably going to have a really good chance at the playoffs. We know that as a team. I think our starting five, as a group, we've really taken that to heart. We're the heartbeat of this team, so we've got to make it go."

Skenes (11-3, 1.96 ERA in 2024) has embraced the challenge of helping the Pirates reach the postseason for the first time since 2015.

"We owe it to the city," Skenes said. "The bar needs to be set pretty high."

Skenes has one career start against the Marlins, giving up one run and striking out nine is a 3-2 win on Sept. 9.

Against the Pirates, Alcantara (7-12, 4,14 in 2023) is 1-0 with a 2.91 ERA and 33 strikeouts in six appearances (five games). He will need to regain his Cy Young Award form -- and get massive help from the offense -- for the Marlins to have a chance to reach the postseason.

--Field Level Media