Kyle Stowers’ Return to the Miami Marlins
Kyle Stowers’ return to the Miami Marlins’ lineup on Sunday was more than just a key bat becoming available. After starting the season on the injured list with a right hamstring strain, the 2025 All-Star came back at a time when the team needed both his production and his leadership. Manager Clayton McCullough highlighted that Stowers is “a huge part offensively of what we can do,” noting that his return helps “lengthen out the lineup” due to his power and on-base ability from last season.
McCullough also emphasized the intangible qualities that Stowers brings to the team. “Kyle’s a really steady teammate,” he said. “A lot of guys lean on him. He’s not usually too up and down. I think he handles things in stride very well… He’s been knocked down a lot, but he keeps getting up.” This resilience and leadership are vital for the Marlins as they navigate the challenges of the season.
However, McCullough’s day ended early when he was ejected in the top of the second inning after arguing with first base umpire Cory Blaser over a balk call on first baseman Connor Norby during a pickoff attempt.
For Stowers, the return is also personal. He mentioned that the rehab process taught him something new about himself, especially since the hamstring injury was something he had never dealt with before. “Battling injuries in this game is part of it, but it’s definitely a challenge,” he said. “It’s a different challenge than on-field performance, good or bad.”
Stowers noted that the process of returning to play is still teaching him things. “I think I’m still kind of in the process of learning more about myself through this process,” he said. “Definitely doesn’t feel like I’m a finished product from it and just still, constantly learning about how can I just get ready to play? How can I be at my best every single day with whatever the circumstances are going into that day?”
He also believes the Marlins are closer than their recent results suggest. “It feels like we’re not far off,” Stowers said. “I think it’s just mistakes that I think will be cleaned up.”
For now, Stowers is simply ready to get going again. “Yeah, just excited to be back with the guys,” he said. “I’m just excited to kind of get into the rhythm of the season. You know, ready to get things kicked off and, you know, it feels like maybe a slightly bigger day for me, but, just one game of what I think is 141 left. So, I’m ready to just get in the swing of things.”
On Sunday, he did exactly that. Back in left field and batting in the cleanup spot for the first time this season, Stowers went 2 for 3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch as the Marlins (10-12) beat the Milwaukee Brewers (12-9) 5-3 at loanDepot Park to avoid a sweep.
More importantly for Miami, his return came in a game where 23-year-old right-hander Eury Pérez gave the club the kind of aggressive, controlled start it had been missing. After the Marlins issued 17 walks and allowed five stolen bases during the first two games of the series, Pérez gave them something much cleaner. He navigated through six innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run, while striking out seven Brewers and surrendering just a single walk.
McCullough called him “fantastic” afterward and pointed to the way he attacked hitters from the start. It was also not by accident. A day earlier, Sandy Alcantara had offered his own scouting report on Milwaukee and his advice for Pérez.
“They like to run, they like to swing the bat early,” Alcantara said Saturday night. “He just needs to be more aggressive tomorrow, attacking the first pitch for a strike, and try to not throw too many pitches each inning.”
Pérez said that message carried directly into Sunday’s outing. “A lot of good words of advice from Sandy, the way he was pitching out there,” Pérez said. “So we practiced that in the bullpen, and we took it to the game.”
The bond between Pérez and Alcantara goes beyond the dugout. Pérez recently became a father and said Alcantara is the godfather of his child, a reflection of how much he values the veteran’s guidance. He later expanded on what Alcantara had stressed. “He told me that just to work a lot with the inside pitches,” Pérez said, “not only with lefties but also with righties, because the ball when I throw tends to run a lot.”
Pérez looked in control almost immediately, striking out Garrett Mitchell to begin the game and punching out five through his first three innings. By the time Milwaukee finally got on the board in the sixth, Miami had already built the cushion it needed.
Miami’s momentum started in the first, and fittingly, Stowers helped create it before he even recorded an official at-bat. When his name was announced before his first plate appearance, the crowd gave him a noticeably loud ovation. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Stowers battled through a seven-pitch at-bat against Jacob Misiorowski. A curveball in the dirt skipped away from catcher Gary Sánchez and allowed Jakob Marsee to score from third for the game’s first run. On the next pitch, the ballpark held its breath as a 101.5 mph fastball drilled Stowers on the hand.
Fortunately for the Marlins, he stayed in the game. When asked afterward about what it was like being thrust into such a high-intensity, high-leverage spot in his first at-bat back, Stowers kept it simple. “You have no choice but to be present,” Stowers said afterward. “It’s the only way that you’re going to have a chance.”
Miami pushed across two more runs in the inning, then watched Pérez settle into a rhythm. He stranded Brandon Lockridge at third in the fifth, finishing the threat with his seventh strikeout on a 98 mph fastball. At one point, Pérez said, the fastball simply became too good to move away from. “I think the fastball is the best pitch in my arsenal,” Pérez said. “So we ended up using it a lot.”
The Marlins tacked on to their lead in the sixth. Liam Hicks walked, Owen Caissie doubled and Javier Sanoja, pinch-hitting for Graham Pauley, shot a two-run single back up the middle to stretch the lead to 5-1.
Stowers, meanwhile, found his first hit of 2026 in the fifth with a stand-up double down the right-field line, then added a leadoff single in the seventh. McCullough thought the quality of his at-bats mattered just as much as the results. “For him to go out there and collect a couple hits was huge,” McCullough said. “The swings looked very aggressive. He looked balanced.”
Milwaukee made things uncomfortable late. Marlins reliever Andrew Nardi walked two batters in the eighth, and Gary Sánchez laced a two-run single up the middle to cut the lead to 5-3. Calvin Faucher relieved Nardi and escaped the jam by getting William Contreras to line out to left. Pete Fairbanks then shut the door in the ninth, striking out two Milwaukee batters on six pitches before Blake Perkins grounded out to second as fans rose to their feet and erupted when the final out settled into Connor Norby’s glove.
