If Sandy Alcantara truly is back to his Cy Young-winning form of 2022, that would be a huge lift for the Miami Marlins.

Alcantara, who will face the visiting Chicago White Sox in Wednesday afternoon’s rubber match of a three-game series, is the leader of Miami’s staff. In fact, given the youth of the Marlins, Alcantara, 30, is the leader of the team.

Last week, Alcantara (1-0, 0.00 ERA) defeated the Colorado Rockies and became the first Miami starter in 11 years to complete seven innings on Opening Day. He threw just 73 pitches, allowing one unearned run on four hits — all singles — and two walks. His sinker reached 97 mph, but three of his five strikeouts were on his changeup.

“It’s a long season, but it’s better if you start winning,” said Alcantara, who is 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA in his lone career appearance against the White Sox.

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said Alcantara was efficient on Opening Day. Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks, who is new to the team this year, went further on the praise of his teammate.

“Sandy is a premier arm talent,” Fairbanks said. “Hopefully, that was a sign of great things to come.”

As for Miami’s offense, Leo Jimenez is striving to make a difference.

Jimenez, 24, once was a top Toronto Blue Jays prospect, but he failed to live up to the hype. In 81 games over the previous two seasons, he hit .207 with five homers and a .635 OPS.

Now, he gets a new chance.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to grow as a player and learn as much as I can,” Jimenez said.

Meanwhile, the White Sox on Wednesday are set to start right-hander Shane Smith, who had an All-Star rookie season last year, making 29 starts and going 7-8 with a 3.81 ERA. He has faced the Marlins just once, last May, when he struck out seven in six shutout innings. He issued no walks but left with a no-decision in a game Miami won 3-1.

In one start this year, Smith’s numbers are ugly — 0-1 with a 16.20 ERA. But it’s a small sample size, and he figures to again mix five pitches, including his fastball (94-96 mph). He also throws a changeup, curveball, slider and sinker.

Smith, acquired last year from Milwaukee as the first pick in the annual Rule 5 draft, might have been too amped up on Opening Day last week. He allowed four runs (three earned) in 1 2/3 innings.

First, he was facing his former organization, the Brewers. Secondly, he also was emotional about drawing the Opening Day start.

“I wanted that so bad,” he said after the White Sox lost 14-2.

If Smith can settle down on Wednesday, the White Sox will have a chance to win this series.

The offense is led by Munetaka Murakami, who won Japan’s Triple Crown in 2022. Although he was a star player in Japan with incredible power, Murakami is considered a rookie in Major League Baseball.

In Tuesday’s 9-2 loss to Miami, Murakami went 1-for-4 with an RBI. In five games, he has four RBIs — third on the team behind Miguel Vargas (six) and Colson Montgomery (five) — along with a team-leading three homers.

–Field Level Media