The Marlins had a bit of an injury scare regarding star outfielder Kyle Stowers today, as he was scratched from his scheduled appearance in the Miami lineup today due to hamstring tightness. As noted by Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, manager Clayton McCullough told reporters this afternoon that imaging on Stowers had revealed a “very minor” strain in his right hamstring.
While hamstring strains can often be serious issues, with even relatively minor strains costing players upwards of a month, it seems Stowers’s strain was caught early enough that it shouldn’t be a major problem for him. McCullough indicated that Stowers will be sidelined for just a week or two before returning to game action, and that he could resume taking at-bats outside of games within the next few days. That’s great news for the Marlins given that Stowers is their best and most established hitter on the roster at the moment. The 2025 All Star is coming off a rookie campaign where he slashed an excellent .288/.368/.544 with 25 homers and 21 doubles in 117 games.
If the Marlins are going to build on their third-place finish in the NL East last year and push back over .500 for the first time since their surprise postseason appearance back in 2023, they’ll need Stowers to be healthy and firing on all cylinders. With Opening Day now just a month away, it would be understandable for Miami to be cautious with Stowers as they bring him back into game action over the coming weeks. If Stowers suffers a setback or his hamstring is re-aggravated once he begins ramping back up, that could put his availability for the start of the season in danger. Youngsters Jakob Marsee and Owen Caissie currently figure to handle center field and right field for the Marlins, respectively, but a more serious injury to Stowers could open the door for some combination of Griffin Conine, Javier Sanoja, Christopher Morel, and Esteury Ruiz to get looks in his absence.
Looking elsewhere on the Marlins’ roster, De Nicola also reports that top Marlins prospect Aiva Arquette underwent core muscle surgery recently and is facing a four to six week recovery period before he can resume baseball activities. Arquette reportedly suffered a left groin strain during his offseason workouts, and while he stopped activities and focused on recovery from there his arrival in camp came with renewed discomfort and prompted the procedure. A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Arquette was Miami’s first-round pick (seventh overall) in the 2025 draft. He scuffled a bit in his first 27 games as a professional last year at the High-A level, but the 22-year-old figures to spend much of the year at Double-A once he’s ready to return to action and could be on the radar for a big league debut sometime next year.
Elsewhere on the infield, MLB.com notes that Graham Pauley has begun working his way back after being shut down due to forearm tightness earlier this week. Pauley is slated to throw to 90 feet and take live at-bats today, and is slated to serve as the team’s DH in tomorrow’s Spring Training game against the Nationals. Assuming those first steps go well, it stands to reason that Pauley could be back to regular work at some point next week. Pauley hit just .224/.311/.366 in 64 games for the Marlins last year, but his left-handed bat and solid defense at third base could still earn him some work around the infield against tough right-handed pitchers throughout the year given that switch hitter Xavier Edwards is the only other infielder on the projected roster that doesn’t bat right handed.
Not good for Arquette. Doesn’t look like Stowers injury is too serious, and Pauley is recovering.
Arquette will be fine brother.
The Marlins cashed in their chips when they traded Cabrera and Weathers earlier this off-season.
Thomas White and Robby Snelling are off to slow starts. Their starting pitching went from potentially having one of the best rotations in MLB to potentially being really bad.
Chris Paddack, Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett, Janson Junk. Woof.
So a bad spring training and 1 bad appearance by White and Snelling each mean they’re done? Ok. And nobody liked EdCab and Weathers when they were Marlins, what changed? I assume we write Aiva off as a Prospect too no? Marlins hate is bizarre to me.
I wouldn’t say either is done, I’d say they are both still prospects that haven’t proven themselves against a lineup of MLB hitters and that the Marlins prematurely traded away two starters that could have put them in contention this season.
I have been touting Cabrera for a while myself, the past two seasons for what it is worth, but you are correct, I recall a lot of commentors dismissing Cabrera all off-season. I hadn’t followed Weathers as closely but after his return last season, he looked like a solid 3 and would have been the Marlins 4. I definitely had him above Meyer and Garrett.
Arquette should be on the fast track having three seasons of NCAA but no need to rush him, Marlins decided not to compete this year.
Love it. Thanks for your breakdown. 👊🏼
Stowers was not a rookie in 2025. He exhausted his rookie status in Baltimore.
Anyone know where Heriberto Hernandez fits into all this
Rockhen. Give Heriberto the bat and he will get a few hits. Send him out to defend and he will fetch the ones he’s supposed to. He has never been a highly touted prospect but he’ll go out there and play ball for you all day. This Spring, He is 2 for 9 with a double, single a walk and a strikeout.
This Spring Owen Caissie is 1 for 9 with a single, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He is very highly rated.
I think Heriberto is very likely to be a solid bench player again this season. I do not know whether Owen Caissie will be an allstar or spectacular crash and burn or anything in between