Stowers credits spring talk with hitting coaches as catalyst for All-Star nod

MIAMI -- Kyle Stowers wasn’t sure that he’d make the Marlins’ roster this past Spring Training.

But now he’ll represent the Marlins at the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta. He will become the first Marlins outfielder to receive the recognition since Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna in 2017.

“It’s pretty surreal, to be honest,” Stowers said before Miami's 3-1 loss to Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon at loanDepot park. “I will be honest, there's always been part of me that’s believed I’ve had this capability, and I know there’s been a group in my community that’s believed the same thing. So my hat goes to them, my appreciation for those people who always believed in me.

“Obviously, first and foremost, I actually want to thank God. I honestly feel like I’ve been leaning on Him a lot this year, and the doors He’s opened up. I didn’t expect to be in this position in Spring Training, so it’s really special.”

It’s been a whirlwind turnaround for the 27-year-old California native, who’s slashing .280/.352/.514 this season after posting a .175/.365/.175 line in the spring. In addition, he’s belted 16 homers and has 46 RBIs (both team highs).

For Stowers, who played 50 games for Miami last season after being acquired from Baltimore just before the Deadline, one moment with assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon changed everything.

“At the end of spring, I was playing pretty poorly,” Stowers said, clearly emotional after hearing word of his first All-Star bid. “... I was actually kind of nervous about not making the [Marlins]. [My wife and I] hadn’t booked our living for the season yet, and [Shomon] called me on an off-day, and he goes, ‘Are you panicking?’

“… [Shomon] goes, ‘You want to come in early tomorrow and hit on your own, so you don’t have to rush?’... I walk in that morning in the cage, and I go, ‘I’m panicking because I’ve been doing so much good in the cage, and it hasn’t shown any results on the field yet.’ And he goes, ‘Great, we can work with that. You think you’re the first guy that’s ever struggled in spring and had a good season?’”

According to Stowers, he, Shomon and hitting coach Pedro Guerrero had an intimate talk that spanned 30 minutes and strengthened their relationship not only as colleagues, but also as individuals.

“If I had to pinpoint one moment that really shifted things for me here, it was that moment," Stowers said. "For me to be vulnerable to those guys, and for them to tell me they still believe in me, I genuinely think that’s worth noting.”

The conversation couldn’t have come at a better time for the sweet-swinging lefty. And if you’ve only watched Stowers during the regular season, you would’ve never surmised that he’d struggled like he did in Spring Training.

Stowers' regular season started with a resounding bang. He roped a single down the right-field line in his third at-bat of 2025 for Miami’s first Opening Day walk-off win in franchise history.

Stowers hit .321 with 17 RBIs in April, following that up with a six-HR eruption in May, including four homers (three of which came against the Cubs) in a five-game stretch.

It was then -- in mid-May -- that he began to see the All-Star dream as more of a burgeoning reality.

“I think after the Chicago series,” he said, “it was kind of like, ‘Oh, I’m putting together a really good stretch of baseball.’”

Stowers cooled off a bit following the hot streak, seeing his batting average dip from .319 to .286 in the final eight days of the month. But he leveled off, settling in at .280 through Sunday, alongside an .866 OPS and 147 total bases. He also boasts one of the best barrel rates (19.7 percent) in baseball.

“Kyle’s such a great teammate,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said Sunday. “He’s such a good person. As good as a performer as he has been during this first half, Kyle is equally as impressive off the field. It’s the way he treats everyone, he’s growing into a real leader on our team. And that’s not just because of how he’s played, it’s about how accountable he is to his actions and the care factor he has.

“It wasn’t the greatest spring for Kyle. You think back, and you look at the scoreboard sometimes in Jupiter [Fla.], and the numbers weren’t great. But we cared little about that, because we believed a lot in the talent and felt like his at-bat quality was high. … To be one of the best performers -- at least in the National League -- on velocity, especially at the top of the zone, is a credit to Kyle’s … openness to making adjustments.”

Stowers, who shuttled back and forth between the big leagues and Triple-A for the Orioles from 2022-24, will hop aboard a private jet from Baltimore to Atlanta next Sunday after the Marlins wrap their upcoming three-game stint at Camden Yards.

How’s that for a full-circle moment?

“It’s like a movie, huh?” Stowers glowed.