Stewart gets 2nd MLB call with Davis on IL

BALTIMORE -- An injury to the Orioles’ longest-tenured position player has created an opportunity for one of the club’s top prospects, who has been provided a second crack at the Majors.

On Tuesday, the Orioles promoted white-hot outfielder DJ Stewart from Triple-A Norfolk, slotting him in right field and sixth in the order for their 3-0 loss to the Tigers.

Stewart wasted no time staying hot, as he went 3-for-4 with a stolen base, providing half of the Orioles' offensive output vs. Detroit.

The club’s No. 15 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Stewart appeared in 17 games for Baltimore last September, but was an early cut from camp this spring, beginning the year in an everyday role at Norfolk. He spent May as one of the hottest hitters in all of Minor League Baseball, batting .456 with eight multi-hit games.

“The day the hot streak started, I did early hitting work,” Stewart said. “And something clicked for me.”

Stewart cited a mechanical adjustment that session, which he birthed with Tides hitting coach Butch Davis and manager Gary Kendall. Afterwards, Stewart said quieting his back elbow allowed him to “simplify things” and “use the whole field,” instead of “trying to kill everything.”

“It took off from there,” Stewart said.

All told, the former first-round pick was hitting .316 with a 1.010 OPS, eight home runs and 35 RBIs over 43 games with the Tides, while ranking among the International League leaders in walks, OBP, slugging percentage and total bases. That production made Stewart the obvious choice for a club that spent the past few days playing with a two-man bench, and unable to bring back Joey Rickard, who was recently optioned.

Technically promoted as a corresponding move for right-hander Evan Phillips -- who was optioned to Norfolk on Tuesday -- Stewart’s arrival at Camden Yards is more tied to the left hip soreness that sent Chris Davis to the injured list this past weekend, clearing a spot on the Orioles' bench and further reshuffling Baltimore's outfield picture.

Rickard was sent down last week to clear space for Keon Broxton, who has started all four games in center field since being acquired in a trade from the Mets. Davis’ injury then allowed Baltimore to slide starting right fielder Trey Mancini to first base, his more natural position, leaving Broxton, Dwight Smith Jr. and Stevie Wilkerson as the club’s only outfielders in the fold.

Hyde said Stewart will form a rotation with Smith and Wilkerson at both corner outfield spots. Hyde penciled the left-handed-hitting Stewart in Tuesday against Detroit southpaw Matthew Boyd, and he singled in his first at-bat.

“They’re all going to play a lot,” Hyde said. “This is a position player who is going to have a lot of everyday at-bats. I think DJ is part of the future and someone who is going to swing the bat well. I just don’t want to put too much pressure on him.”

The move also brings some clarity to what had become a crowded outfield at Norfolk, where Rickard, Stewart, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander and Mason Williams were all vying for playing time. The highest-rated blue-chipper of the bunch, No. 5 prospect Austin Hays, is rehabbing a thumb injury and is expected to rejoin the Tides in short order.

“I wanted to be here and they gave me specific things to work on,” Stewart said. “That was a goal of mine: to show them that I could do it.”

Fry makes a famous friend
Paul Fry was greeted by a surprise visitor in the Orioles' clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, when former National League Most Valuable Player Award winner and World Series hero Kirk Gibson dropped by to meet the Baltimore left-hander. The pair share a connection: Both are graduates of Waterford-Kettering High School in Michigan, though their tenures at the school came 36 years apart.

“When he came in and talked to me, it was unbelievable, honestly,” Fry said. “I’ve heard so much about him.”

Gibson, who turned 62 on Tuesday, graduated Kettering in 1975 before attending Michigan State, and subsequently enjoying a decorated 17-year Major League career. He currently works as a special assistant to Tigers GM Al Avila and serves as an analyst for the team’s games on Fox Sports Detroit.

Fry left Waterford in 2011 for nearby St. Clair County Community College, where he became a 17th-round selection of the Mariners two years later. Fry is in his second season in the Orioles’ bullpen, pitching to a 3.74 ERA in 22 games so far in 2019.

Fry and Gibson were both born in Pontiac, Mich., 35 years apart.

“Everyone [from home] always asks me if I’ve met him yet, and I hadn’t, so today was a big day,” Fry said. “It was awesome to be able to meet the guy, the legend, in person.”