The Cardinals promoted hard-throwing Dominican right-hander Sandy Alcantara to the majors in September to try to boost their bullpen for their playoff push, but he didn't seem ready for the challenge, struggling to throw strikes and giving up hard contact. He has elite stuff, however, showing it when he started the Arizona Fall League opener in Surprise on Tuesday afternoon.
Alcantara worked at 95 to 100 with his fastball, hitting triple digits twice, showing a sharp 79-84 MPH curveball that flashed plus but wasn't consistent as well as an upper-80s slider that touched 90 with shorter break, almost like a bigger cutter.