The Miami Marlins will not have their best hitter in the early goings of the 2026 MLB season.
On Sunday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reported that the Marlins will be missing the services of star outfielder Kyle Stowers because of a grade 1 hamstring strain. The injury will keep him out for three to four weeks.
This is certainly not a great development for Miami, especially considering how close the season is to commencing. Plus, Stowers is among those expected to lead the Marlins’ production on offense after breaking out in 2025.
The 28-year-old Stowers left last Friday’s game against the Houston Astros due to tightness in his hamstring. He suffered the same injury in February.
For now, the Marlins are being extra-cautious with Stowers, who was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Marlins along with infielder Connor Norby in exchange for pitcher Trevor Rogers.
“I think what it means is one, we want to get Kyle healthy,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “We all know Kyle’s a big part not only on the field and offensively what he brings, but then Kyle’s a great teammate and has a lot of great leadership qualities. It’s unfortunate. He’s bummed out, but also now it’s just, ‘Turn the page, Kyle, and let’s get healthy. Let’s get yourself ready for when you do come back.’”
In 2025, his first year with the Marlins, Stowers hit .288/.368/.544 and led the club in home runs (25), OPS (.912) and OPS+ (149) through 117 games and 457 plate appearances.
Miami finished the 2025 campaign with just a subpar .309 wOBA and a 96 wRC+, so missing Stowers right out of the gate this upcoming season doesn’t inspire much optimism about the team’s chances of bouncing back from such an anemic offense.
