Offishial News: Marlins stick with Stowers, stack Double-A rotation with studs

[Ely Sussman]

Today's news roundup also includes a preview of the Marlins' final preseason exhibition game.

The vast majority of Miami Marlins fans would've handled him differently, but struggling outfielder Kyle Stowers will be part of the club's Opening Day roster, Isaac Azout has learned. Stowers recorded zero extra-base hits in 49 spring training plate appearances and frankly looked lost at the plate. He drew 12 walks, but struck out 17 times despite frequently having the platoon advantage. This, of course, comes on the heels of Stowers flopping in his first 50 regular season games with the Fish (.186/.262/.295 slash line and -0.8 fWAR). He has one minor league option remaining.

The Fish On First staff is trying to confirm who'll be taking the place of Connor Norby (left oblique) on the roster, but it won't be Albert Almora Jr. or Rob Brantly, the last two position player NRIs who had still been hanging around big league camp. 

Fish on the Farm's Alex Carver reported numerous prospect assignments on Monday night. Most notably, the Marlins are concentrating a lot of their top pitching talent in Double-A Pensacola. The Blue Wahoos rotation will include Thomas White, Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur and Dax Fulton, all of whom rank among the top 15 FOF prospects. Josh Ekness will be in Pensacola's bullpen. Outfielders Victor Mesa Jr., Jakob Marsee and Andrew Pintar are going to Triple-A Jacksonville, though Mesa is starting the season on the injured list. High-A Beloit will have Noble Meyer, Karson Milbrandt, Ryan Ignoffo and Emmett Olson. Coming off hip surgery, Dillon Head is repeating Low-A.

Marlins Opening Day is two days away.

More Marlins news and content below:

🔷 I must've missed it in the transactions log a couple weeks ago, but the Marlins signed RHP Lane Ramsey to a minor league deal. Ramsey made 21 appearances (all in relief) for the 2023 Chicago White Sox, posting a 5.85 ERA, 3.46 FIP and .313 BAA in 20 innings pitched. He began the 2024 season at Triple-A and underwent season-ending surgery in June. Ramsey is mainly a two-pitch guy with a mid-90s fastball and high-80s slider. The 28-year-old has been assigned to Pensacola.

🔷 Alex Carver makes the case for Hanley Ramírez, Josh Johnson, José Fernández, Gary Sheffield and Wayne Huizenga to be inducted into the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame in 2026.

🔷 Baseball Savant now has public batter positioning data, tracking where MLB players set up in the batter's box and how they move during their swings. Here is a leaderboard of last season's Marlins batters. Among all Marlins, Xavier Edwards stood closest to the pitcher, while Luis Arraez stood as far away from the pitcher as possible.

🔷 In an effort to become more impactful as a baserunner, Kemp Alderman tells Baseball America's Walter Villa that he has slimmed down to 235 pounds (he was previously listed at 250).

🔷 Daniel De Vivo made his own ranking of top Marlins prospects, including Alderman in the 24th spot.

🔷 Today's exhibition game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Max Meyer) host the New York Yankees (RHP Will Warren) at loanDepot park. It's the 30th and final preseason exhibition game for the Marlins this spring (and the only one taking place in Miami). Yankees big leaguers participating include Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Anthony Volpe. First pitch at 1:10 p.m. Coverage on the Marlins Radio Network.

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[Hans Herrera]

Speaking of which, can we get projected depth charts for JAX, Pensacola, and Beloit? I'm still not sure about the Jumbo Shrimp rotation.

[Slacker Mills]

Personal observations:

Norby and Lewis Brinson. Can't hit just like one another. Both the fastest guys on the team, yet neither can turn that into adequate defense or stolen bases. Talk of Norby as a "cornerstone" is basically just plain silly.

Nice batting order today. - not. Lopez should be batting second No way a total non-performer like Mervis hits third (or at all in my lineup). Stowers fifth? How about a hundred and fifth?

I'd love to see Sanoja, Acosta and Serda all in the lineup at the big park today. I think they are all better hitters than Stowers, Norby and Mervis. and would also be fan favorites for hustle.

 

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

There's no reason to overact on Stowers, given how the season is aligning. We need the power. Give him plenty of leeway. All we need is another early dump, a la Bleday. What's the damn urgency?  Frankly, I've seen too much Spring Training to go wild over a good one or despair over a poor one.  The only exception is a player that is out of shape or mentally uninterested. 

[Slacker Mills]

Prediction time: Yankees 12 Marlins 1

Jazz Chisholm MVP

[Miami Italiano]

Stowers is only making $800k on a 1 year deal, cut his @$$

This is another move that our Jared Fogle look alike GM doesn't want to admit he's wrong yet again.

[One Regend]

Why even have players to root for? Let's pencil Stowers in into the opening day roster, even though he has proven time and time again that he looks overmatched against major league pitching. Actually, calling it major league pitching is a compliment; he was struggling against LONGSHOTS.

Heriberto played his tail off this spring. He earned the spot handily. Why didn't he make the opening roster? It's not like the 40 man roster has every player that is actually worth keeping. It's not like they need Brett de Geus or Luarbart Arias.

This team is literally unwatchable. We have about 13 starts of Sandy Alcantara before he gets traded, and about 10 starts of Eury Perez. That's like 23 games actually worth watching... out of 162. Horrible.

[One Regend]

5 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

Norby and Lewis Brinson. Can't hit just like one another. Both the fastest guys on the team, yet neither can turn that into adequate defense or stolen bases. Talk of Norby as a "cornerstone" is basically just plain silly.

Okay, I'm done being nice.

I have always disagreed with your takes, but this one is so bad it's actually impressive. Both strike out a lot, yes, but that's the only thing they share in common. Lewis Brinson throughout his entire career has never made contact with baseballs. And while Connor Norby has struggled with that, here's the part that really separates the two: Connor Norby has actually put up results. Tell me when at any point in Brinson's entire career he's contributed anything. He's not a perfect player by any means, but to compare him to Lewis Brinson is straight up just outlandish.

You should be more upset that Kyle Stowers made the team despite many COFs playing their tail off to earn that spot, and you should be more upset that this shows that this regime is making the same exact mistakes the previous regime made.

Come back to me when Connor Norby puts up 4 consecutive seasons of 72 wRC+ or lower despite being given an incredibly long leash of 1056 plate appearances.