Miami Marlins Slugger Gets Revenge on Former Team

Kyle Stowers continues to take the baseball world by storm, and on Tuesday he'll be suiting up as one of the National League's All Stars. Acquired by the Miami Marlins in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles midway through last season, Stowers came to the Marlins as a depth piece-- with no real expectations put on him.

But since this season started, Stowers has not only cemented his status as a cornerstone piece for the Marlins, but he is also an All-Star for the first time.

In the first-half finale against his former team, Stowers made sure to make it a memorable night, not only helping the Marlins beat the Orioles 11-1, but he was at the center of the magic. Going 5-for-5 with three home runs and six RBI, Stowers was involved in bringing in over half of Miami's runs and helped the team improve their record to 44-51 in the final game before the All-Star break.

In what his first series against Baltimore since being traded, Stowers became only the fourth Marlins player in franchise history to have a three-homer game, and the first to do so since Brian Anderson achieved the feat in 2020. Stowers joins Anderson, Cody Ross and Mike Lowell as the players to have hit three-home runs in a game for the Marlins.

Facing Orioles pitcher, Brandon Young for three at-bats, Stowers hit all three of his home runs against him and was eager to put together a strong finish to the series. Entering Sunday's game, Stowers was 7-for-10 with two walks, going 1-for-3 with a walk in game one and 1-for-2 with a walk in the second game.

"I wanted to play really well, not out of any form of wanting to get back at them or anything like that," Stowers said postgame via ESPN. "It was just because we're all competitors. I'm sure they wanted to get me."

Stowers' first home run on July 13 came in the second inning, when he hit a 1-1 pitch to right-center field to put the Marlins ahead first. Then in the second inning, Stowers sat on a curveball and hit a line drive to right-center, extending the Marlins' lead to 4-0.

Stowers hit his third home run in the fifth inning when he launched a ball over the scoreboard on a 2-2 count, putting the game well out of reach and putting Miami ahead 7-0. In total for the season, Stowers is hitting .293 with 19 home runs with 54 RBI and a .911 OPS-- borderline elite numbers at this point in the season.

The Marlins are 10.5 games out of first place in the National League East, with the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets ahead of them. They're also 7.5 back in a crowded NL Wild Card race. While the Marlins may not be able to reach the postseason this year, it would appear as though they're on the right track.

Plus, with Stowers, they have either a key building block or a valuable trade piece--either of which would help the Marlins continue to build for the future.