Marlins to activate Kyle Stowers from the injured list Sunday for season debut

Manager Clayton McCullough said before Saturday's game against Milwaukee that Stowers, who was at the ballpark, is ready to go.

“Everything from the rehab checked out,” McCullough said. “He continued to check the necessary boxes. I think certainly there was a physical component with how he felt, how the hamstring was.”

Stowers, who strained his right hamstring in spring training, made five rehab appearances with Triple-A Jacksonville, including outings on Thursday and Friday.

“He got back-to-back, nine-inning games,” McCullough said. "I think he came out of that feeling like he’s in a really good spot physically. Also, I think mentally now he feels like, ‘OK, I’m kind of over this.’”

Stowers is coming off a career-best year in 2025 when he recorded 115 hits, 25 home runs and 73 RBIs in 117 games, earning his first career All-Star nod before a left oblique strain sidelined him for the final stretch of the season.

Before breaking out last season, Stowers was shuffling back and forth between Triple-A Norfolk and Baltimore — which drafted him in the second round of the 2019 amateur draft — trying to establish himself as a major leaguer.

The Orioles eventually dealt him to Miami, where he batted .186 in his first 50 games.

But last season was the start of his ascension.

He began that year by singling in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Paul Skenes and Pittsburgh on opening day. He led Miami in home runs and RBIs while becoming the first Marlins outfielder to be named an NL All-Star since Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton in 2017.

This season, the Marlins have started 9-11 and are currently second in the NL East behind Atlanta (13-7), looking to build on the momentum from last year's surprising 79-83 season. They’re sixth in the league in total hits (171), 11th in runs (93) and 10th in RBIs (90).

“Getting Kyle back in the lineup will really be a nice boost to help lengthen some things out," McCullough said. "And then also, Kyle is a really steady teammate. A lot of guys lean on him. He’s not usually too up and down. I think he handles things in stride very well. And a lot of that probably is due to just his path of getting here. He’s been knocked down a lot, but he keeps getting up.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb