1 of 5 | Miami Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers achieved career-highs in hits, home runs, batting average and more en route to his first All-Star selection in 2025. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA
Kyle Stowers’ shoulders are clear, but they could metaphorically be piled with 45-pound plates if he lets the weight of pressure and expectations infect his philosophy entering the 2026 MLB season.
The Miami Marlins outfielder, who earned his first All-Star selection in 2025, says he prefers the word “belief,” when asked for his thoughts on team owner Bruce Sherman telling reporters he had “extraordinary expectations” for Stowers’ upcoming campaign.
“I try to have little expectations on myself going into each and every day. I have high belief though,” Stowers said this week at Marlins spring training in Jupiter, Fla. “It’s a huge honor that those guys believe in me.”
Stowers, who became a father last month when he and his wife welcomed a baby girl, admitted a “lot of change” has occurred within his life as a new dad and emerging MLB star. But he looks forward to clubhouse continuity and expects the Marlins’ 2026 foes to be more prepared for the team’s exploits.
“The hardest thing in sports is … now people know we are a good team,” Stowers said. “We aren’t going to be sneaking up on anyone. Now you’ve got to do it with more eyes on you and a little more expectation. But what it gets back to is the process — controlling what you can control.
“All that stuff, the results, wins, losses, stats, all that is a byproduct of all the work. Keep working hard, preparing to win every single day. That’s what we can control and I think, if we do that. I like our chances on a nightly basis.”
Sherman and Marlins president Peter Bendix often cite Stowers’ progression as an example for their clubhouse. The second-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2019 MLB Draft was in and out of big league lineups in 2022 and 2023 due to injuries and inconsistency. Bendix and the Marlins traded All-Star pitcher Trevor Rogers for Stowers and infielder Connor Norby during the 2024 campaign.
Stowers hit .186 with two home runs over 50 games in his first season in Miami.
He hit .235 through his first 10 games of 2025, but improved his average by .089 points over the next month. Stowers finished the year with career-highs in home runs (25), hits (115), batting average (.288), on-base percentage (.368), slugging percentage (.544) and OPS (.391). His 3.6 WAR (wins above replacement) led the Marlins.
“He is a good guy to listen to because when we first got here, he did not have the start he wanted or that we all knew he was capable of,” Norby said of Stowers. “He would be the first to tell you that. Obviously, even in spring training last year, he scuffled and then the season turned on and it was a like a light switch. He was locked in from Day 1.
“There is a lot good you can take from the struggle and there is a lot of good you can take through the tough times.”
A look at the 2025 Marlins 79-83 record doesn’t evoke a strong sensation of dominance, but the team hopes slight improvements lead to sustained success.
Those Marlins spent 12 days in first place, their highest total for a full season in more than a decade. Their 26 blown leads were the fewest in franchise history, for a 162-game season.
The Marlins also experienced an uptick in several other important categories, in addition to their 17 additional wins from 2024 to 2025 under first-year manager Clayton McCullough.
McCullough’s Marlins improved from 13th in hits (1,347) to sixth (1,388). They went from the 15-team National League’s lowest scoring team to its seventh-worst. They also improved by taking 79 more walks and striking out 163 fewer times. They improved their stolen base total, average, on-base percentage and more.
The Marlins pitching staff also improved from the second-worst in baseball (4.73 ERA) to the fifth worst (4.60). But there are still many improvements to be made throughout the roster as the Marlins cut down to 26 men for the 71 at camp.
They’ll look to improve on the mound and at the plate, where they continuously rank among the least powerful units in MLB, finishing in the bottom five in home runs in each of the last eight full seasons.
Outfielder Jakob Marsee, shortstop Otto Lopez and second baseman Xavier Edwards joined Stowers and others as catalysts for that improvement.
Stowers and the 2025 Marlins hovered around .500 through the first two months of the season before dropping to as many as 16 games below that mark in June. They proceeded to go 31-15 from mid-June to early August to get to 55-55, but never were able to regain a winning record.
Stowers landed on the injured list in August due to an oblique ailment and did not play in the Marlins’ final 37 games. His injury, paired with a lack of availability for the pitching staff and overall inconsistency, led to the Marlins’ shortfall. But Sherman and Bendix were able to identify the team’s needs, as well as players who could be key to their future.
“I think our expectations are, we go out and try to win every single game,” McCullough said. “And for me, not a whole lot changes from last year to this year.
“What people, write and say, we are less concerned about. We have to get better every day. we have to be a better group at the end of April than at the beginning. We have to be a better group in the summer than when we started.
“At the end of the year, we have to try to look back on this thing and how many guys took strides. We were able to continue to improve upon [our processes], and what the ultimate win/loss total will be will be what it is at the end of the season.”
Part of the Marlins’ efforts to build on their campaign was off-season talent acquisition, including signing free agent infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel and pitchers Pete Fairbanks, Chris Paddack and John King, totaling more than $20.5 million.
They also strengthened their overall talent pool through several trades and now hold four of baseball’s Top-50 prospects, tied for the most in MLB.
They also made $140 million worth of improvements to their facilities on Jupiter’s Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium campus, including a modernized clubhouse and a new 12,500-square-foot player development facility that features a weight room, training rooms and an outdoor agility field. It dwarfs their former 1,500-square-foot weight room.
Sherman has called the spring training roster the “best 72 players we’ve had in the last number of years.” McCullough, Bendix and the Marlins will now be tasked with trimming that pool to a 26-man opening day roster. McCullough said the Marlins’ pitching has improved over the last two weeks and several roster spots are still “up for grabs.”
“I know that right now we feel very excited about the amount of talent we have in this building and not just that we have in major league camp,” McCullough said. “We have some really exciting arms and position players and we need them to get better. So that’s going to continue to be our mission.
“The difference this year [compared to] last is that I think we are all just more familiar with each other, and there is just a different level of comfort coming into our camp, but the goal of going out and trying to win every day and compete for our division hasn’t changed.”
Stowers, who has been out due to a mild hamstring strain, is set to make his spring training debut when the Marlins host the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:10 p.m. EDT Saturday in Jupiter.
The Marlins will open the season against the Colorado Rockies on March 27 in Miami.
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (C) celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings in Game 7 to win the World Series in Toronto on November 1, 2025. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo
