Adjustments starting to pay dividends for Stowers: 'Now he's settled in'

DENVER -- As the first of Miami’s Trade Deadline acquisitions to join the big league club, outfielder Kyle Stowers wanted to make a good first impression.

After a rough three weeks in a new setting, Stowers appears to have found his footing. He drove in a game-high four on three RBI knocks and Derek Hill homered twice, as the Marlins outlasted the Rockies, 12-8, in Thursday afternoon’s slugfest at Coors Field.

Seven Marlins notched a multihit performance in the finale to split the four-game series. Miami matched a season high with 12 runs and set a season high with 18 hits.

“I guess it's a sense of steadiness to take some time to get acclimated,” Stowers said. “Now that being said, the expectation from Day 1 was to perform for myself. So I don't want to act like that's an excuse, but I'm feeling settled now.”

Hill got the scoring started by rocketing an elevated four-seamer from right-hander Bradley Blalock over the center-field wall. This is the second time Hill, whom the Marlins claimed off waivers from the Giants on Aug. 3, has gone deep in back-to-back games this season. He also did so for the Rangers June 29-30.

In the third, Stowers lined a two-out RBI single, ambushing a first-pitch four-seamer and sending it to center. He then delivered a two-run double in a five-run fourth.

Hill struck again in the sixth, jumping a first-pitch, middle-middle cutter from righty Noah Davis for a two-run homer. Stowers capped the game’s scoring with a two-out RBI single in the ninth.

“It was amazing,” Hill said. “I could kind of tell early in the day, when we got here and got into the cage and whatnot, that everybody was just kind of dialed in and ready to go out there and compete. And whenever we go out there and compete and stick to our game plan, we do some fun things.”

Prior to a three-hit performance on Aug. 19 against the D-backs, Stowers had opened his Marlins career 5-for-52 (.096) with no extra-base hits, no RBIs, three walks and 23 strikeouts.

His .096 average ranked as the third-lowest by a Marlin through his first 16 games, excluding pitchers (min. one at-bat in each game).

“It's a challenge any time when you're a hitter and you're not getting hits,” Stowers said. “It's hard. But that being said, I try to pride myself in those moments when things aren't going well that I'm the same guy and same work ethic. It's a cheesy saying but, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going.’ Sometimes putting your back against the wall, the only way to go is forward.”

The 26-year-old Stowers, who joined the Marlins from the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate and with 168 MLB plate appearances on his resume, worked on breaking bad habits. The Marlins’ hitting staff focused on minor mechanical adjustments like holding on to his backside and staying above and on the ball more.

The tide started to turn in Stowers’ last two at-bats against the Cubs last Sunday. After a hard groundout to the second baseman, he drove a double to right field.

It also helped when some hits began to fall. Or when family members, like his mom, Sheri, were able to see him play in a Marlins uniform for the first time this week. Stowers, a California native who attended Stanford, expects more family to be in San Francisco this weekend when Miami faces the Giants.

During his modest five-game hit streak, Stowers is 9-for-20 (.450) with two doubles, one triple, one homer, six RBIs, one walk and seven strikeouts. The Statcast metrics also show a difference.

Through his first 16 games:
87.9 mph exit velocity
10.9-degree launch angle
41.4% hard-hit rate

Since Aug. 25:
97.9 mph exit velocity
7.9-degree launch angle
61.5% hard-hit rate

“He's swinging at strikes,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “When he swings at strikes, he hits the ball really hard the other way, up the middle. He's got pull-side power when he wants it. He's a good overall hitter. It's just when he's in the strike zone. I could say that about 100 different guys in the Major Leagues. Still a young guy in this league, still trying to figure out the league as well. The league adjusted. He adjusted. So that means that he's a really good athlete, because he adjusted to the league.

“It's going to be one of those chess matches every single day. That's how you survive in this league. I'm really proud of him, of how he's adjusted. But you're right. New manager, new coaching staff, new hitting staff, new team, meeting new people every single day. I think that definitely changes things. Now he's settled in, and I think this is more the version you're going to see than the first couple weeks’ version.”