Marlins Face Opening Day Outfield Concerns After Star Duo Suffer Injuries
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Despite winning both split-squad games on Friday night, the Miami Marlins lost the injury battle. Standout right fielder Kyle Stowers and offseason trade acquisition Esteury Ruiz both left their respective games prematurely with different injuries.
Stowers reportedly left the game after experiencing hamstring tightness. The Marlins breakout outfielder missed the first two weeks of March for a right hamstring strain. Friday night was his third game back from the hiatus.
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"Whenever a player exits the game, it's not a great feeling, especially coming off some hamstring tightness over the past couple weeks,” bench coach Carson Vitale told reporters in West Palm Beach, Fla., via MLB.com. “But I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, and hopefully, [the diagnosis] is not too bad, and we can take it day by day. But it's never great when a player has to leave a game."
Kyle Stowers Is Prepping for His Second Full Season in Miami
Stowers batted 2 for 2 with a double and a run scored on Friday night. He entered the evening with just one hit through five games in spring camp.
In his first full big league season, Stowers smashed 25 homers, knocked in 73 runs, and produced a .288/.368/.544 slash line over 117 games. He earned his first All-Star game appearance and 3.6 bWAR.
Stowers missed the final 40 games of the regular season for an oblique strain last season.
Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernandez, and, less likely, Christopher Morel are all potential candidates to pick up playing time in left field.
Ruiz left the Marlins' other game on Friday night, a win against the Washington Nationals, with left side tightness after fouling off a low and in cutter.
"No idea anything further,” manager Clayton McCullough said via MLB.com. “Took that swing, had some tightness in his left side. So that was an easy one, just to pull the plug there, let him go get checked out. So haven't heard anything more than the initial tightness that he had."
Esteury Ruiz Is a Dynamic Speedster With Elite Base-Stealing Ability
Ruiz was battling for a roster spot after Miami traded for him this offseason. Ruiz has a career .241 batting average through 197 MLB games, but stole a league-high 67 bases in 2023. He was batting .129/.317/.129 over 15 games this spring.
He was 0 for 1 with a strikeout on Friday night.
