Kyle Stowers begins rehab assignment with Jacksonville, targets Marlins return

Kyle Stowers’ first steps back went through Jacksonville, and for the Marlins that made the Jumbo Shrimp more than a rehab stop. It put one of Miami’s most important bats on a path back to the major-league outfield, with the club using Triple-A to measure whether a Grade 1 right hamstring strain is behind him and whether his return can reshape the lineup.

Stowers began the assignment on April 10 after opening the season on the 10-day injured list. The timing followed a spring that never fully settled into rhythm. Miami scratched him from a Feb. 28 lineup with a minor right hamstring strain, then brought him back March 14 before the injury flared again during the final weekend of camp in Jupiter, Florida, on March 20. He logged only 17 Grapefruit League plate appearances before the setback stopped the momentum that had carried him into 2026 as a front-line Marlins outfielder.

The stakes are high because Stowers is not coming back as a depth piece. He was a 2025 National League All-Star, becoming the first Marlins outfielder selected to the NL team since Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton in 2017. Miami acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles on July 30, 2024 in the Trevor Rogers deal, and the return has been real: since that trade, Stowers has hit .259/.339/.474 with 28 doubles, five triples, 27 home runs and 88 RBIs. In 2025, he raised the ceiling further, hitting .288/.368/.544 with 21 doubles, three triples, 25 homers and 73 RBIs in 117 games.

Jacksonville now gets the kind of rehab assignment that can tell a club plenty before the player ever returns to Miami. Stowers already worked six innings in left field in Norfolk, Virginia, and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his first rehab game before a scheduled off day. The early checkpoints are simple but decisive: can he run without issue, can he handle full outfield work, and can the bat regain the impact that made him an All-Star?

There is also a roster wrinkle to watch. Stowers took first-base drills at loanDepot park, and MLB.com reported he could see occasional work there when he returns. That kind of flexibility matters for a Marlins club trying to balance health, matchups and outfield playing time. Jacksonville has already served that purpose for Miami, with 18 different Marlins completing rehab assignments there in 2024 and Edward Cabrera also going through the process in 2025. Stowers makes the assignment more meaningful than routine. He is an All-Star-caliber test case, and Miami’s outfield plan may depend on how quickly he passes it.