Kyle Stowers all the time had it behind his thoughts as he went by means of his day-to-day work with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Code League in 2018. He had arrived as a brief participant, filling a roster spot till the College World Series ended and a number of the finest gamers round faculty baseball reported to their summer season league locations.
The factor was, Stowers had no intention of leaving.
The then-Stanford outfielder was decided to stake his place, and he did so behind a team-leading .326 batting common and a .926 OPS. Around midseason, when the cutoff date arrived for coach Jeff Trundy to determine which short-term gamers would keep and which might depart, he hardly gave Stowers a second look.
“Hey, by the way,” Stowers recalled Trundy saying, “obviously you’re staying the rest of the summer.”
Stowers had accomplished greater than sufficient to earn his place with the Commodores, setting himself up properly to turn into a second-round choice for the Orioles within the 2019 draft. Now he’s with Baltimore within the main leagues, and he finds himself in a lot the identical scenario he did that summer season on the Cape.
The 24-year-old outfielder joined Baltimore in Toronto as a alternative participant, filling in for outfielder Anthony Santander, who’s on the restricted checklist. He may have yet one more recreation with the Orioles on Thursday earlier than Santander returns and Stowers seemingly heads to Triple-A Norfolk once more — no less than in the meanwhile.
He isn’t a member of the 40-man roster; alternative gamers can return to the minors while not having to make use of an choice or passing by means of waivers. It created a novel scenario for Stowers’ debut, a four-game trial that might flip into extra, akin to what he did six years in the past.
“Just trying to soak it all in as much as I can,” Stowers mentioned. “I think the super nice thing about it is, I got to get my feet wet, get the debut out of the way, get my first hit out of the way. And I don’t mean that as I was dreading it — it was super awesome to have that happen. I think it’ll just make me more comfortable for whenever the opportunity comes next. And whenever that is, I’ll be ready.”
As Stowers looked for a summer season league task, his quiet freshman 12 months at Stanford did him no favors. He hit .103 in 19 video games as he tailored to the school stage, and assignments for the summer season league are sometimes sealed early within the spring.
In conversations with Trundy, he knew there was a risk he’d stick round with the Commodores. He hit .286 throughout his sophomore season with the Cardinal, and when he opened his account properly with Falmouth, it was a no brainer. The short-term designation was ditched.
“I think it ignites a little bit of fire,” Stowers mentioned. “Enough to put a little chip on the shoulder. But again, nothing that really ticked me off too much.”
The classes discovered that summer season turn out to be useful now, although. As an expert, “everyone’s job’s on the line.”
“If you don’t have that fire, that passion to get the most out of it and be the best you can be, you’re obviously probably not in the right place,” Stowers mentioned.
The El Cajon, California, native has made his mark early within the minors and slots in because the No. 9 prospect in Baltimore’s group, based on Baseball America. He hit 12 homers in 49 video games to go together with a .253 common for Triple-A Norfolk this season earlier than his momentary call-up.
Stowers has performed in two video games at Rogers Centre, making his debut Monday and notching his first hit on an RBI double. He went hitless Wednesday however snared a line drive in deep left subject earlier than working into the wall.
He doesn’t understand how lengthy this can final. On paper, his final day with the membership is Thursday. Then it’s again to the minors till the subsequent alternative arises. But then once more, as a brief participant in 2018 for Falmouth, he by no means left.
Perhaps there’s an opportunity the identical will occur with the Orioles.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com