Stowers concludes strong road trip with a bang

To call the beginning of Kyle Stowers' tenure with the Marlins a "rough start" would be the understatement of the 2024 season. In his first 16 games with the club from July 31 to August 18, Stowers hit .096/.175/.096 with a 40.4% strikeout rate. Among the 198 hitters to take at least 50 plate appearances in that span, only his opposition in Sunday's 7-5 Marlins win, Patrick Bailey, had a lower wRC+ (-59) than Stowers (-19). Maybe the pressure of trying to impress your new club was detrimental for the former Stanford product.

"Some mechanical adjustments that needed to be made, losing my backside a little bit," noted Stowers when discussing those early struggles.

And maybe, it is best to simply allow time to paint a fuller picture. Stowers collected three hits on August 19, jumpstarting a stretch that saw him enter Sunday with a .993 OPS to close out the month of August.

It appears September could be more of the same.

With Miami trailing 2-1 at the hands of Logan Webb—owner of a career 2.67 ERA against the Fish entering play—Stowers attacked a well-placed Webb changeup for his third home run on the road trip. That capped off a four-run fifth inning in which all of the Marlins runs came with two outs.

Across the Diamond

Having to swim their way upstream in the victory, Darren McCaughan's afternoon started with him surrendering Mike Yastrzemski's 100th career home run. He also issued hit-by-pitches to three batters, becoming the 13th different Marlins pitcher to do so. Settling in as best he could, McCaughan would allow four runs (three earned) over his four-plus innings of work. 

A highlight on the mound came by way of the bullpen. Starting with Xzavion Curry, the relief corps delivered 4 ⅔ perfect innings, striking out nine in the process. Bookending that group, Calvin Faucher upped his total to 230 batters faced without allowing a home run in 2024. 

In taking two out of three from the Giants, the Marlins won a series for the first time since their pre-trade deadline visit to Milwaukee (July 26-28).

Looking Ahead

Tuesday will see the Marlins back home as they begin their penultimate series against the Washington Nationals. Max Meyer (3-4, 5.44 ERA) will check the final team off his NL East checklist as he makes his first career start against Washington in the opener. Patrick Corbin (4-12, 5.50 ERA) will try and keep the good times a-rolling, having allowed just one run over his previous two starts.

First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST.