Jury Will Remain Out On Kyle Stowers But Not On Miami Marlins Roster Holes

When it comes to the Miami Marlins and Kyle Stowers, nothing has changed.

Well, that's not entirely true. The nature of the injury is new. Beyind that though? Miami is looking at spending the first month of 2026 the same way they spent the last month of 2025- without the services of who they believe to be their best offensive weapon. Kyle Stowers found his way to IL with a hamstring injury Sunday morning and could miss as much as a month. Front office pet project Esteury Ruiz is hurt too, with the same oblique injury that hindered Stowers last year.

Consequently, the Miami Marlins are now dealing with multiple issues.

First and foremost, Miami is down the player that is considered to be the centerpiece of their offense. Hardly breaking news, I know. Unfortunately, neither is this- the Marlins are not a lineup full of multiple All-Stars. If Stowers is the stat line he produced in 2025- 25 HRs and a .912 OPS in just under 400 ABs- then he's a superstar in the making and the problem with his absence needs no further explanation. Certainly he's projected to be the best hitter for Miami's offense, and not having him is a huge problem for a team that is in dire need of a fast start after two seasons of tripping over themselves out of the gate.

However, you don't need to be told that losing an All-Star is a bad thing. The Marlins have other problems in the wake of not having Stowers in the lineup for a few weeks. Two other issues loom just as large.

One is the same problem the Marlins dealt with to finish last season- a delay in getting a full grasp of just what they have in Kyle Stowers. Is he the kind of talent that would be an All-Star for every team in the majors, that put up numbers that had him mentioned in the same sentence as some of the best hitters in the game? Or is he just a guy that got hot for a couple months and is closer to the player Baltimore gave up on than the one Marlins fans saw last year? Much is made of the mystery surrounding Jakob Marsee, who was great for August and woeful for September. The average is still a star you build around, but the career track record suggests September might be closer to reality.

Was Stowers a true breakout? Or did he just never get the chance to regress...and regress hard? The Marlins need an answer to that for team building purposes.

Next up, there are just the holes in the rest of the Miami Marlins roster.

I'll keep it brief because this was also covered in an article last week regarding WBC sensation Javier Sanoja. But Miami just doesn't have the depth to absorb an injury like this and still feel like they are running a high quality offensive product out there. Obviously, any MLB team that loses an All-Star is going to be in danger of seeing a shortfall at that position. However, my issue isn't what the Marlins will do in the outfield the next few weeks. As mentioned last week, my issue is the lineup overall. Going cheap at the infield corners when that was Miami's biggest weakness last year, a mistake, was a strategy that was only going to work if everything went well elsewhere. A hot Stowers was able to mask Miami's other lineup issues for stretches in 2025. He's not here to do that now, and the issues for at least one of those lineup spots look even more severe in 2026 than they did last season.

If the Marlins do look for outside help in the wake of this injury, first base makes just as much sense as going after an outfielder.

At any rate, Marlins fans had better hope Stowers gets back to the team ASAP. This lineup needs him.