FILE - Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias speaks prior to a baseball game between the Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Baltimore. Elias was voted Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year on Tuesday, Nov. 7, after the team finished with the American League's best record for the first time since 1997. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Baltimore Orioles’ Youngster Does Something Not Done in Last Six Years of Spring Training History
Baltimore Orioles’ young outfielder Kyle Stowers is trying his best to make the questions about the Opening Day roster uncomfortable for O’s management.
Playing against the Detroit Tigers in split-squad action on Sunday, Stowers has blasted three home runs, doing something that hasn’t been done in the last six years of spring training.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
Kyle Stowers !
The twelfth three-homer game in spring training since at least 2006 and first since Mike Zunino on March 21, 2018
After the second home run of that, Orioles’ reporter Andy Kostka put the following out on “X:”
Kyle Stowers homered AGAIN. He’s on fire. That’s six this spring. The Orioles’ outfield configuration is crowded, but Stowers’ power must be drawing some considerations for more extended major league time
The 26-year-old made his major league debut in 2022 and has played in 48 games over the last two seasons. He’s just a .207 hitter who has hit three home runs and driven in 11. He played in just 14 games last season and hit .067.
In the outfield, the Orioles have Anthony Santander, Colton Cowser, Austin Hays, Heston Kjerstad, Ryan McKenna, Cedric Mullins and Stowers on the 40-man roster, so Stowers’s chances to make the roster are certainly tough.
No matter who they end up going with, the Orioles figure to be one of the best teams in baseball again in 2024. They won 101 games a season ago and captured the American League East crown before falling to the Texas Rangers in the ALDS.
