3 unlikely Marlins All-Star candidates for 2026

[Louis Addeo-Weiss]

Kyle Stowers entered the 2025 regular season at the nadir of his career. After being blocked from consistent playing time in Baltimore, he had a golden opportunity to prove himself with the Miami Marlins, but he was failing to capitalize on it. Stowers proceeded to hit .186 with a strikeout rate north of 35 percent as a Marlin in 2024, followed by a more disheartening .175 slugging percentage the ensuing spring. The announcement that he had made the club's Opening Day roster took some—myself included—by surprise.

What Stowers did in the season opener would be a precursor to one of the most improbable All-Star campaigns in franchise history. His game-winning RBI single, the first such Opening Day hit in franchise history, was one of numerous clutch moments for the outfielder. While the Marlins' talented starting pitchers underachieved early in the year, as did their speedy leadoff man Xavier Edwards, Stowers would hit .288/.368/.544/.912 en rout to being their lone representative at the Midsummer Classic.

Predicting Stowers to earn All-Star accolades again would not be particularly bold. Right-hander Eury Pérez and center fielder Jakob Marsee also come to mind immediately, as does ace Sandy Alcantara, who's been an All-Star twice before. Even shortstop Otto Lopez is overqualified for this conversation given his well-rounded skill set and projected playing time. On the other hand, with apologies to Brian Navarreto and his fellow minor league depth options, I don't want to reach too far in the other direction.

Under ideal circumstances and with the appropriate adjustments, which Marlins could improbably play their way to Philadelphia for the 2026 All-Star festivities?

 

The Kyle Stowers candidate: Connor Norby

What better place to start than with the player Stowers found himself traded with two summers ago?

Upon coming over to Miami in 2024, Norby showcased some of the promise he had in the minor leagues, hitting seven home runs in 36 games, totaling a .760 OPS. At this time last year, he was widely viewed as the club's third baseman of the future. 

However, after a season that saw him take three trips to the injured list and provide mediocre production when available, Norby's role on the 2026 roster is somewhat uncertain.

This spring, the club has sought to make Norby more versatile, starting him at his usual third base along with a pair of appearances at first. A lack of plate discipline is still apparent in his .316/.316/.421/.737 Grapefruit League slash line, but his ability to distribute extra-base hits to all fields is alluring.

Although Norby is expected to begin 2026 as platoon partners with Graham Pauley, his role could expand quickly if he rakes the way he's capable of. 

 

BABIP-dependent: Javier Sanoja

While he certainly played the super-utility role to a tee last season, Gold Glover Javier Sanoja would have to do a whole lot better than the 86 wRC+ he put forth in 2025.

A 101 wRC+ hitter in the minor leagues, at least Sanoja's elite contact skills have already translated to the big league level (11.9 K%). There are some signs that the 23-year-old could be turning the corner as a run producer—he slugged .478 after the 2025 All-Star break and homered in the just-completed World Baseball Classic.

As long as Sanoja continues to avoid strikeouts, he's capable of sustaining an eye-popping batting average for a half-season sample size.

Due to the versatility he has to play practically any position, compiling the necessary reps won't be much of an obstacle.

 

On the mound: Chris Paddack

While he may have been a touted prospect, the return on investment in Chris Paddack's parts of seven seasons at the big league level has been a mixed bag. The closest he's ever come to the All-Star conversation was his rookie year of 2019, when he pitched to a 3.33 ERA with the Padres. He has posted a 5.06 ERA since, often missing significant time due to injury.

Among 149 pitchers to throw at least 400 innings in the 2020s, Paddack's ERA ranks 143rd. Those results kept him on the job market into February when the Marlins finally signed the free agent to a one-year/$4M deal. 

"Something I think we all need to be reminded of, even at this level, is, 'Hey man, you're really good. Believe in yourself.' That's something that was told to me in that first Zoom call, and that, 'We're not on the phone to fill a roster spot—we think you can contribute...and we want to help you find that ceiling,'" remarked Paddack.

With a defense that will feature the likes of Edwards, Lopez, and Marsee up the middle (and eventually, catcher Joe Mack), Paddack should see some positive regression, especially coming from the Minnesota Twins (minus-11 outs above average) and Detroit Tigers (-4 OAA). The Marlins, on the other hand, ranked seventh-best in that department at plus-17.

It is a stretch to say that this proposed positive regression could net Paddack an All-Star nod, but he has looked like a savvy investment for Miami to this point, hurling nine innings across four spring appearances without yielding an earned run.

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[Jose Herrera]

My pool of players for surprise all-stars are Edwards, Gus, Lopez, Marsee, Bender, Perez & Phillips. Not to mention Alcantara, Fairbanks and Stowers as favorites.

[One Regend]

 

3 hours ago, Jose Herrera said:

My pool of players for surprise all-stars are Edwards, Gus, Lopez, Marsee, Bender, Perez & Phillips. Not to mention Alcantara, Fairbanks and Stowers as favorites.

I especially want to see Jakob Marsee take the next step. If he can do so, I can see great things for our core group of players.


The biggest problem the last rebuild had was the lack of up-the-middle talent.
-All of the CFs never developed. Everyone remembers the flop of Lewis Brinson, but does anyone remember Monte Harrison and Magneuris Sierra?
-Jorge Alfaro was the fastest Marlin to fizzle out in recorded history, and they didn't have any contingency plan for that.
-We had literally no SS. And no, Miguel Rojas doesn't count. He's a backup infielder in his 30s being plugged into a starting role because the team didn't have any other viable options.

Jazz was literally the only talented player up the middle, and he was our 2nd Baseman, despite the team stubbornly starting him at SS, before throwing him into CF because they failed to develop a CFer.

Rebuilds with lack of up-the-middle talent are destined to fail.
Least with other positions, should our options fail to materialize, supplementing the roster with replacements are far less expensive (be it trade assets we're trading away, or Free Agency money) than it would be supplementing replacements for up-the-middle positions. Remember how we felt forced to overpay for Jacob Stallings, and look how awful that turned out for us. (Granted, the Pirates didnt get much from our prospects, either)
The hope is we don't get so desperate with this core.


But now, with steady hand Otto Lopez, Luis Arraez-lite X, my hopes is that Jakob Marsee develops into a great ballplayer. And here's to hoping that Joe Mack figures things out to round out the roster.

[Jose Herrera]

@One Regend spot on. Chisholm would have been the next Acuna if Ozuna, Realmuto, Stanton and Yelich had all been in the middle of our line-up.