Fighting for a roster spot, Stowers homers in 3 straight at-bats

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Orioles have quite a few challenging roster decisions on their plate entering the final week of Spring Training, and Kyle Stowers is only making things tougher.

No player in MLB has hit as many spring home runs as Stowers, who went deep three times in Baltimore’s 4-4 split-squad tie with Detroit at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland on Sunday afternoon. The 26-year-old outfielder has belted seven Grapefruit League homers, and he leads the O’s with 13 RBIs this spring.

Stowers became the first player to hit three homers in a Spring Training game since Mike Zunino, who went deep three times for the Mariners on March 21, 2018, vs. the Brewers. Only 12 players have hit three or more home runs in a spring game since at least ‘06.

Spring Training stats may not be important to some, but for Stowers, every at-bat matters.

“Obviously, I’m fighting to make the team. I want to perform well now. I want to perform well during the season,” Stowers said. “Any time I step on the field, I want to perform well.”

Stowers is among four Orioles outfielders competing for only one or two available roster spots, along with Colton Cowser (MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 overall prospect), Heston Kjerstad (No. 32) and Ryan McKenna. It’s a tough competition -- especially with Cowser slashing .364/.488/.758 with four homers and nine RBIs in 13 games himself -- but Stowers has built a strong case.

Through 16 games, Stowers is 11-for-37 (.297) with a 1.181 OPS.

“I hope everybody is making it as difficult as possible, and Kyle has swung the bat awesome this camp,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “To come in to camp and swing the bat the way he is, it’s been amazing.”

A lot has been made of Stowers’ left-on-left success, as he’s 7-for-15 with four home runs against southpaws this spring. However, he entered Sunday 1-for-19 vs. righties.

All three of Stowers’ homers in Lakeland came off right-handers, including a pair against Tigers starter Kenta Maeda. Stowers capped the performance with a seventh-inning solo blast off reliever Reese Olson.

“To me, it’s the same thought process -- it’s seeing what the pitcher has and formulating the plan from there. I feel comfortable against both of them,” Stowers said. “It was nice to see some results from a righty, finally. I know I haven’t had a ton this far, but I’ve felt like I’ve been on my way.”

Stowers’ first home run of the day was a second-inning solo shot that had a launch angle of 41 degrees, per Statcast, and was likely aided by the strong winds. However, his second homer off Maeda was a no-doubt two-run blast that traveled a Statcast-projected 438 feet.

“The way the [first] ball sounded off the bat, I thought it was going to be a flyout to right field,” Maeda said through an interpreter. “I was thinking of using [the wind] as an excuse, but he got me the next time around, so I can't use that. If I had just given up one, I could say, 'Oh, it's the wind.' But he squared me up on the second one. He got me. He definitely got me."

As if a three-homer game on St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t special enough for Stowers, the performance also coincided with the fourth birthday of his dog, Paxton.

“We were joking around, we call it, ‘St. Paxty’s Day,’” Stowers said. “So we were all messing around about that today.”

Governor Moore visits Sarasota
A new switch-hitter stepped into the batting cage at Ed Smith Stadium on Sunday morning: Maryland governor Wes Moore.

Prior to the Orioles’ 8-2 split-squad win over the Braves, Moore took cuts from both sides of the plate during batting practice. The 45-year-old had fun with the experience, flashing several wide smiles while O’s general manager Mike Elias stood behind the cage and watched.

“You have a real respect for the players out there, because they make it look very easy, and it’s not,” Moore said. “But I think it just highlights why we’re so excited about this team. This is a special team, a special organization.”

Worth noting
• Tyler Wells continued his stellar spring Sunday in Sarasota, where he allowed one run and struck out six over 4 2/3 innings vs. the Braves. The 29-year-old righty has a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings over three starts.

• Julio Teheran allowed one run and struck out five over four innings vs. the Tigers. The 33-year-old righty has a 4.82 ERA in four outings (three starts) this spring.

• John Rhodes (the O’s No. 24 prospect) slugged a pair of homers in the win in Sarasota.