Offishial News: Kyle Stowers and the most unlikely Marlins All-Stars ever

By "unlikely" All-Stars, I mean Miami Marlins representatives who were furthest down the list of plausible candidates entering the regular season of their selection. Announced as a National League reserve on Sunday night, Kyle Stowers is certainly in that conversation.

Prior to 2025, Stowers had a career slash line of .208/.268/.332 in 117 MLB games, amounting to -0.9 fWAR. Through 84 games this season, his OPS has shot up 266 points to reach this milestone. He needed every bit of that improvement to crack the NL roster, otherwise his outfield spot would have gone to the very deserving Juan Soto and the Marlins' rep would've come from another position.

Trevor Rogers entered 2021 with lousy results in his seven previous MLB starts and hardly any upper-minors experience. He shoved in spring training that year, so I wouldn't consider his rookie All-Star nod to be quite as surprising. Coincidentally, Stowers and Rogers were traded for one another last year.

Browsing through every All-Star in Marlins history, 2006 Dan Uggla looks like the only player whose breakout was more difficult to forecast. He was famously a Rule 5 Draft pick. It's extraordinarily rare for such players to immediately become everyday starters, much less high-quality ones.

I still have long-term concerns about Stowers, who ranks in the fourth percentile among MLB hitters in whiff rate. He's not even an average defender or baserunner, so when his bat slumps, the other aspects of his game can't compensate for it. However, the strides he's made since 2024 are impressive, particularly his adaptability to barrel several different pitch types. The game power seems legitimate, albeit streaky. The Marlins ought to be thrilled.

Down on the farm, Double-A Pensacola won, 4-3. Dax Fulton's curveball was awesome throughout his outing (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 86 pitches/52 strikes), consistently landing in the strike zone to get him ahead in counts and also inducing some chases below the zone. Longtime MiLB starting pitcher Evan Fitterer recorded his first career save in chaotic fashion, as embedded below. High-A Beloit lost, 1-0, and lost, 7-6. Jake Brooks quietly has a 2.66 ERA over his last eight starts. Low-A Jupiter won, 7-2. 

More Marlins news and content below:

🔷 To kick off our MLB Draft week coverage, Sean McCormack updated his mock draft through the first 43 picks, which includes Marlins selections at No. 7 and No. 43.

🔷 Alex Carver sees Clarke Schmidt's season-ending injury as an opportunity for the Marlins and New York Yankees to link up on a starting pitcher trade. (Personally, I think Alex is a bit optimistic about how much talent the Marlins would get in return in these scenarios.)

🔷 More than halfway through the minor league season, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com highlights Jakob Marsee (Jacksonville), Kemp Alderman and Robby Snelling (Pensacola), Eric Rataczak (Beloit) and Liomar Martínez (Jupiter) as MVPs of their respective affiliates.

🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated through the first 29 series. Become a SuperSub and we'll keep track of your predictions all season long!

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Washington Nationals have shaken things up, firing both general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. Rizzo and Martinez were critical to the club's 2019 World Series title, but the Nats have MLB's second-worst record during the 2020s (ahead of only the Colorado Rockies). An interesting twist to this: Washington holds the first overall pick in Sunday's MLB Draft. The Cleveland Guardians have lost 10 straight games. They've been held to two runs or fewer in eight of those losses. Here are the complete MLB All-Star rosters. Several replacements will likely emerge over the course of this week for players who are sitting out due to injuries or throwing schedules.

🔷 Today's MLB game: the final Marlins road trip of the first half begins with a visit to the Cincinnati Reds (probable starters RHP Janson Junk and RHP Brady Singer). Elly De La Cruz leads his club by large margins in homers, runs scored, RBI, stolen bases and fWAR. The Marlins have a 44.7% chance to win, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET.

🔷 Prior to the game, Fish On First LIVE will preview the Reds series beginning at 5:30 ET. FOF LIVE is presented by About The Fans. Check out our new merchandise collection (coupon code fof10 for 10% off).

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Where will Otto Lopez finish in NL MVP voting?

Where will Otto Lopez finish in NL MVP voting?

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