can the alternator cause a hard to start engine

My xj suddenly became hard to start during lunch yesterday...it was fine in the morning when i left..its takes 2 tries ,it just cranks for a while and then turns over barely idles then like 3 seconds later its fine .it was fine for the 30 mile drive home..but reason i ask when im trying to start it the alternator light is on ,the light shuts off when the crappy idle clears up...

its a 95 4.0 with 209k battery is 1 year old, i cleaned all the grounds about a year ago, and the battery posts were cleaned this summer

Alternator light will be on until the engine gets enough RPM for the alternator to start working. Sounds like you might be losing fuel pressure. Try this - turn on the key but don't crank. You should hear the fuel pump run then shut off. Turn off key and repeat. Then turn off key and attempt to start. If it starts, then you have a bad check valve in the fuel pump.

Yes I think that is it...I went out and pressed the valve on the rail and no fuel came out..Then I turned the key 3 times, and it started right up..

Do a search for fuel pressure and there is a lot on the topic. There are aftermarket check-valves that are less expensive than changing the whole pump. Mine ended up being a problem with the small piece of rubber hose that connects the pump to the metal line - it had split and would not hold pressure. It eventually failed on the way home from work last week.

Yep, sounds like the check valve.

hmmm dont want to jinx myself but this problem mysteriously went away for 2 days now