The Marlins’ Kyle Stowers Deserves More NL MVP Recognition

At this point, it is no longer a secret what the Miami Marlins are doing.

Since June 1, they are second in the National League in wins, behind only the Milwaukee Brewers. They are coming off of their sixth straight series win, the latest being a sweep of the New York Yankees down in Little Havana.

While baseball is most definitely a team sport, there is a reason why a Most Valuable Player Award is handed out in each league every season. While Shohei Ohtani is currently the NL MVP favorite on BetMGM, the Marlins’ All-Star Game representative is not even listed in the top 10.

What Kyle Stowers has been able to accomplish this year, up to this point, deserves far more MVP recognition.

Entering Monday, August 4, the 27-year-old outfielder is slashing .296/.373/.575 with 25 long balls, 71 runs driven in, a 158 wRC+, and 4.0 fWAR in 105 games this season. Let us just look at the names around him in terms of league leaders in wRC+:

In just the NL alone, he has the third-highest wRC+.

Stowers entered the fourth season of his career in 2025. Coming into spring training, there were concerns as to whether he would make the Opening Day roster or not. Well, not only was he named Just Baseball’s Gold Medal Hitter of the Month in the NL, but Stowers enters August having been named the NL Player of the Month for July.

All stats updated prior to games on August 4.

Stowers: First Three Seasons vs. 2025

When you look back at Stowers’ first three seasons and compare them to this year, there are clear, tangible changes that he made during the winter that have carried over into the season. The first thing that sticks out is his approach at the plate.

From 2022 to 2024, he hit .208/.268/.332 with a 68 wRC+, six total home runs, a 33.8% K%, and a 6.2% BB% across 340 plate appearances. His groundball percentage was nearly 50% and he was not making much hard contact, being limited to just 20 total barrels.

In 2025, across 406 plate appearances, Stowers has been walking at a 10.1% clip, and the strikeout rate is now sub-30% at 28.3%. You then look at the discrepancy in barrels and see he has 46 up to this point, to go along with a 52.7% HardHit% compared to the 34% he had in the previous three years combined.

The 2024 Offseason

Not long ago, there were a lot of question marks in Stowers’ profile. From the inconsistencies in his ability to make contact, to the lack of discipline that was clear when you watched his at-bats, he entered the 2024 offseason with a plan to revamp his entire approach at the plate.

With him no longer having to familiarize himself with the trip from Baltimore to Norfolk, it was up to him to take advantage of a newfound opportunity to establish himself as an everyday major league regular.

The Marlins organization as a whole was looking to revamp its development system. They decided to play to the strengths of their players and their ballpark when implementing their offseason hitting plans. They transitioned from being solely focused on trying to develop power, to a more balanced approach in prioritizing on-base percentage and capitalizing on timely hitting.

One big change that a lot of hitters in the system raved about was the investment in a Traject Arc hitting machine to help improve swing decisions and cut down on chase rate. Both of which were a detriment to Stowers’ approach before this season.

It all started with his batting stance. In an interview with MLB.com, Stowers was quick to reference a change in his stance.

What sticks out the most is the degree to which he has opened up his stance. Stowers made it known that the first thing he worked on was opening up. This allows him to better see and track pitches as they are released from a pitcher’s hand.

Not only has he opened up more, but he has also moved deeper into the box to let the ball travel more. In doing so, he is no longer selling out for pull-side power and can spray the ball to all fields with authority.

Here you can see the difference between 2025 (top) and 2024 (bottom):

2025 Stance:

2024 Stance:

Stowers also referenced the literal feel of the ball coming off the bat when he would make contact over his first three seasons, compared to this year.

He mentioned thinking he had made solid contact on a ball, and it not traveling nearly as far as he thought it would. Upon returning to the dugout, he would notice the weaker-than-expected exit velocities.

After working to add weight and strength this offseason, Stowers has now seen his average exit velocity jump half a mile per hour, which does not seem significant, but his max exit velocity is up to 113.7 mph. Not to mention, his barrel percentage has jumped from 10.9% in his largest sample prior to this season to 19.6% this year.

The changes he made became tangible and translated into a strong spring training performance. One thing that both Stowers and Marlins manager Clayton McCullough noted helped these changes stick was his having an equal number of at-bats against left-handed pitchers. Before this spring, it was clear he was being protected from left-on-left matchups when those situations arose.

The 2024 offseason has turned into what looks to be a career-saver for the young outfielder.

What’s Next?

The trade that brought Stowers over to the Marlins has been well documented up to this point. Stowers was not even the “headliner” in the return for Trevor Rogers at last year’s deadline. Yet, with Connor Norby currently rehabbing from a broken hamate bone in his hand, Stowers has done more than what a “throw-in” normally amounts to in a trade.

Then, as this year’s deadline was nearing, there were rumors that Stowers’ name was being floated around as a potential trade chip. None of this speculation came from a reputable Marlins source. Still, the fact that the Marlins refuted all of the rumors goes to show that they view him as part of this young, fun core that has brought so much excitement to a Miami fanbase that has been clamoring for it for some time.

Based on what we have seen up to this point in the year, it is hard to imagine Stowers not continuing to produce for seasons to come. Not only has he quickly become a fan favorite in Miami, but Stowers himself seems to be enjoying his new home and has regularly expressed his gratitude towards the organization that invested the time to help him develop into the player that he is today.

Kyle Stowers not being listed among the National League MVP favorites on any betting sites is, as the kids now say, blasphemy. Based on what he has accomplished this year, he should be in the discussion for a top-three finish.

I think it is only a matter of time before the entirety of baseball media fully buys into the Fish, if they have not already, after they brought the brooms out on the 2024 AL Champion Yankees.