Kyle

Stowers

Stowers struck out in his first two at-bats against Paul Skenes, but he walked his third time up, ending Skenes’ day, and then again in the eighth as part of a two-run Marlins rally. In the ninth, he came up with the winning run on third and lined a ball right down the right field line. Under other circumstances, it would have been at least two bags and probably three. Still, he seemed fine with the single while being mobbed by his teammates.

With Jesús Sánchez on the IL, it will be Kyle Stowers in left field, Derek Hill in center field, and Griffin Conine in right field for the Marlins against right-hander Paul Skenes. Conine had a decent spring, hitting .280/.357/.380 with one home run in 56 plate appearances. He also hit 19 home runs in 112 games at Triple-A last year, so there is a little bit of pop in his bat for NL-only leagues. The Marlins’ full lineup is: Xavier Edwards SS, Kyle Stowers LF, Jonah Bride DH, Matt Mervis 1B, Otto Lopez 2B, Griffin Conine RF, Derek Hill CF, Graham Pauley 3B, Nick Fortes C.

Stowers, who also hit into a ground-ball double play in this one, is 5-for-35 with zero homers this spring. If Jesús Sánchez was healthy, we imagine Stowers would be Triple-A bound for the start of the year. As is, it doesn’t really seem like the Marlins have anyone else they would want to carry in his spot. Perhaps they could be active on the waiver wire next week in search of alternatives to both Stowers and Matt Mervis.

If Stowers and Griffin Conine were competing for one roster spot a couple of days ago — it’s not entirely clear that was the case, but let’s go with it — the pressure is off now in light of Jesús Sánchez’s oblique injury. Stowers hasn’t helped his cause by going just 4-for-24 this spring, though he has walked nine times. He’s still more interesting going forward than Conine or Jonah Bride or Derek Hill or Dane Myers or Matt Mervis.

Conine is now hitting .259 with a .725 OPS and one home run this spring. The 27-year-old is tied for the Marlins team lead with 10 spring training starts, splitting time between left field and right field. While that’s primarily because the team is trying to decide whether or not he will make the team entirely this spring, his primary competition in left field, Kyle Stowers, has gone just 3-for-17 (.176) this spring with nine strikeouts. It remains to be seen if Conine has done enough to earn a spot over Stowers, but it’s certainly a conversation.

Things have not gone well for Stowers since coming to Miami. He came into today hitting .168 with 46 strikeouts in 33 games since being traded. That came with two home runs and 11 RBI. He has clear raw power, and the Marlins will keep him in the lineup to see if he can build off of performances like this, but he’ll need a few more to feel good about having a starting spot in 2025.

Stowers crushed the ball 439 feet to right-center, which was enough to get it out of even spacious Oracle Park. He also walked and had two other hard-hit balls today, though both of those went for outs. After a really tough first 3 1/2 weeks as a Marlin, Stowers is 11-for-28 with two homers and nine RBI in his last eight games (six starts).

It was his first home run in a Marlins uniform and the second of the season for Stowers. The 26-year-old has struggled to start his career in Miami, going 13-for-74 (.176) with the one home run, four RBI, and six runs scored in 24 games. Stowers is a power-first bat who has run high strikeout rates in the minor leagues during his career, so he’s going to need to have more power surges like this to warrant being rostered in fantasy leagues.

Norby starting at third base means that Otto Lopez will continue to start at second base for the time being. Lopez will hit seventh with Kyle Stowers moving down to eighth in the order.

The 26-year-old outfielder was in the lineup the last time that the Marlins faced a southpaw, but he’ll take a seat against left-hander Sean Manaea on Friday night. Stowers is slashing a woeful .111/.184/.111 with zero RBI and a laughable 22/2 K/BB ratio in 49 plate appearances since joining the Fish.