MIAMI, FL – Here at Lemon City Live, we will be starting a new segment where the Marlins writers, Alex Aguirre, Gabriel Garcia, and myself, will be voting every month on who the team MVP was. We will also be mentioning who the runner-up for the award goes to as an honorable mention. For the month of April, we have each come to the agreement that the nod for Marlins MVP goes to Kyle Stowers.
How he got to the Marlins
At the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline, the Miami Marlins made the call to trade Trevor Rogers to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers.
Kyle Stowers was far from an everyday consistent hitter while with the Orioles. From 2022 to 2024, he spent time between his big-league club and AAA Norfolk Tides. Despite mainly being used as a pinch-hitter in 2024, Stowers did show some signs of potential in his final 19 games with the O’s, hitting .306/.297/.500 with a home run and nine RBI.
🚨INSIDE THE PARK GRAND SLAM🚨@KyleStowers scores four without the ball leaving the park! Norfolk leads 4-0 into the 6th!#RisingTide #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/G7xXeBHirn
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 2, 2023
Not only that, but he also had an upright Spring Training, hitting .256 with seven home runs and 14 RBI. Even though he was optioned to Triple-A to begin the 2024 season, he did make some Orioles minor league-affiliate history. Kyle Stowers surpassed Christian Walker with his 43rd career Tides home run in a record-setting 26-11 win over the Charlotte Knights.
He's done it! @KyleStowers breaks the Orioles affiliate franchise career home run record with his 43rd! 👏👏👏#RisingTide https://t.co/LjjUzeHmy3 pic.twitter.com/P62NY6iFcW
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) April 4, 2024
He would later go on to break a Norfolk Tides record, passing Gary Rajsich, with his 53rd career home run.
Initial struggles with the Marlins
Already well out of contention for the playoffs, the Marlins immediately made Stowers an everyday player in their lineup. Sadly, he didn’t live up to the hype he had in the minors. Across 50 games in a Marlins uniform, Kyle Stowers only managed to have a .186 batting average (29 hits in 156 at-bats), a .262 on-base percentage, and a .295 slugging percentage.
The numbers were very subpar to say the least, but he certainly had his spot on a young team such as the Marlins. Come spring, the expectations were for him to progress and earn himself a roster spot, right? Well, his Spring Training stats displayed similarities to last season’s playing time in Miami.
Stowers played in 16 spring games, but didn’t have ideal numbers. His slash line was .175/.365/.175. The fact that he had more walks (12) than hits (7) helps explain why he had an above-average on-base percentage. Either way, fans on social media were calling for him to be optioned to AAA Jacksonville.
Regardless of the minimal on-field production, a left oblique strain to Jesus Sanchez left the door open for Stowers to make the Opening Day roster. Little did anyone know how consistent Kyle Stowers would end up becoming in the lineup.
Kyle Stowers from 2022-2024 (117 games): .208/.268/.332 .600 OPS 6 HR -1.1 fWAR
Kyle Stowers in 2025 (28 games): .323/.396/.510 .907 OPS 4 HR 0.9 fWAR
A change of scenery paying off in a big way! pic.twitter.com/HrgCOGYkZJ
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) May 1, 2025
Under promising and over-delivering
On March 27th, in the eyes of 31,590 individuals at Loan Depot Park, Kyle Stowers instantly made himself a household name. In the bottom of the 9th inning, down tied at 4 apiece against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Kyle Stowers was in the batter’s box with a runner at third and first.
Stowers was already 0-for-2 with two punchouts and two bases on balls. In the Pirates’ eyes, Kyle Stowers was an easy out. All he had to do was get on base, and the game would be over.
Stowers did exactly what he had to do, hitting a sharp line drive down the right field line, ending the game in walk-off fashion. It was a historical moment for the Marlins, their first Opening Day walk-off win ever.
KYLE STOWERS WALKS OFF THE PIRATES ON OPENING DAY pic.twitter.com/gyFSHuMWYP
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 27, 2025
His best series of the month was the April 11-13 three-game homestand against the Washington Nationals. Kyle Stowers had at least two hits, a double, and two RBI in each game. He finished the series hitting .538 (7-for-13) with three doubles and 6 RBI.
His batting average shot up from .256 to .314 in that weekend alone, and he never looked back.
He didn’t get the start on April 21st against the Cincinnati Reds, but he came in clutch as a pinch hitter. He showcased his “Stowers Power”, hitting a three-run blast to left field with a 30-degree launch angle.
Kyle Stowers with a pinch-hit three-run homer tonight for the Marlins.
Stowers is slashing .306/.388/.458 for an .846 OPS this season. pic.twitter.com/27OIIlEoW4
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) April 22, 2025
April 30th against the Los Angeles Dodgers was another memorable game in his young major league career. Stowers went 4-for-4, going deep twice along with a double in that game.
Kyle Stowers today:
4 at-bats, 4 hits, 2 home runs, 1 double, 4 RBI
The best performance of Stowers' young career to cap off an amazing month of April. pic.twitter.com/MlE3CxkmcN
— Nate Karzmer (@NateKarzmer) April 30, 2025
His stat lines for March and April were .323/.396/.510 with a team-leading 19 RBI. If he keeps these numbers up over the upcoming months, Kyle Stowers will surely make a case to earn an All-Star game spot.
Honorable mention
The honorable mention would have to go to Max Meyer. Meyer disappointed during 2024 in the eyes of many. However, he rebounded his way back into form this season. He has been the most consistent starting pitcher for the Marlins by far this season.
The highlight of his 2025 and career so far has been his April 21st start against the Reds, where he just went lights out against their batting order. His 14-strikeout performance is tied with Sandy Alcantara’s 14 in 2022 for the third-most in franchise history. It only sits behind Ricky Nolasco’s 16 in 2009 and Livan Hernandez’s 15 in 1997.
Max Meyer had 14 strikeouts last night and this might have been the nastiest 🤢 pic.twitter.com/IeDiMDXL7i
— MLB (@MLB) April 22, 2025
Meyer had a stretch of four consecutive outings in April with at least 6.0 innings pitched. So far, Max Meyer has put up a 2-3 record, 3.18 ERA, 47 strikeouts, along with a 1.21 WHIP.
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