Marlins' Liam Hicks continues to hit as Sandy Alcantara shuts out White Sox

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald on Apr 1, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — The slider ran into the heart of the strike zone, and Liam Hicks didn’t waste the opportunity.

The Miami Marlins’ catcher lifted the pitch with a simple swing, sending it 347 feet and off the top of the right-field wall at loanDepot park for a two-run home run in the second inning of Miami’s eventual 10-0 series-clinching win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday afternoon — a game in which Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara tossed his fifth career shutout.

Miami bounced back from a 9-4 loss on Monday by beating Chicago, 9-2, on Tuesday and getting the shutout on Wednesday.

The Marlins improved to 5-1, while the White Sox fell to 1-5.

This is becoming a common occurrence for Hicks to start his second MLB season. The home run was Hicks’ third in five games played this season after having just six in 390 plate appearances as a rookie. He has an MLB-leading 12 RBIs after driving in four runs on Wednesday — Hicks also had RBI singles in the first inning and sixth innings — and is hitting .467 with a 1.659 on-base-plus-slugging mark.

“In the past, I’ve just been focused on trying to make contact a lot,” Hicks said Monday. “Now, I’m kind of trying to do damage a little bit more.”

And he’s succeeding.

Hicks always had confidence in his bat-to-ball skills and his understanding of the strike zone — and they were on full display in 2025. He made contact on 90.8% of his swings on pitches inside the zone (MLB average is 82.5%) and 64.1% of pitches he chased (MLB average is 58%). His 17.6% chase rate last season was in the 98th percentile of qualified MLB hitters while his 15.1% whiff rate was in the 91st percentile. He struck out in just 14.4% of his plate appearances.

But Hicks knew he needed to add power to his swing. He had just 20 extra-base hits — 13 doubles, one triple, six home runs — last season. If he could create more damage than just putting the ball in play, his likelihood for steadier playing time would improve.

So he worked this offseason on rotating his body faster when he swings. He used a weighted bat to test out a harder swing. He looked over film and analytics from his 2025 season to get a better understanding of what pitches he can capitalize on.

“It’s not being afraid to strike out as much in the past,” Hicks said. “I know that even when I’m taking my swings, I still have a high likelihood of putting the ball in play. That’s really what the mindset has been.”

His early power surge has been integral for the Marlins, who are 5-1 for the first time since 2020.

Hicks’ 12 RBIs are the most by a Marlins player through his five games to start season, surpassing the previous record of 10 by Casey McGehee from March 31-April 4, 2014. He’s the 11th player in franchise history with at least three home runs in his first five games played in a season.

The 26-year-old’s impact on Wednesday started from his opening at-bat, with his RBI single that dropped into center field starting a four-run first inning. Connor Norby followed with an RBI double and Owen Caissie capped the frame with a two-run single.

Hicks’ home run in the second then pushed Miami’s lead to 6-0 against the White Sox. A Javier Sanoja two-run single in the third made it 8-0 Marlins before Hicks capped his four-RBI day with another RBI single in the sixth. Otto Lopez capped Miami’s scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.

It was all more than enough to back up a stellar outing from Alcantara.

The Marlins’ ace, who opened the season on Friday by holding the Colorado Rockies to one unearned run over seven innings, needed just 93 pitches (69 strikes) to get his 27 outs. He allowed just three hits, didn’t issue a walk, struck out seven and didn’t allow a runner to get into scoring position.

It was Alcantara’s 13th career complete game in addition to being his fifth shutout.

Alcantara is the first pitcher this season to toss a complete game.

The Marlins now have their first road test against the New York Yankees. Game times for the series at Yankee Stadium are 1:35 p.m. Friday, 7:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:35 p.m. Sunday.