Kyle Stowers

Kyle Jacob Stowers

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.
• School Stanford University
• High School Christian High School (El Cajon)
• Debut June 13, 2022

• Born January 2, 1998 in El Cajon, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Outfielder Kyle Stowers made his major league debut with the Baltimore Orioles in the middle of the 2022 season, three years after having been drafted in the second round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Stanford University. He was part of a wave of top draft picks added to the Orioles' organization when the team sank into the doldrums of the standings starting in 2018, and by the time he made his debut, having lost a full season of minor league baseball to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team was starting to show signs of turning things around, with the first members of that draft bounty, led by Adley Rutschman, starting to contribute at the big league level.

Stowers hit .253 in 34 games in his first season, but with an OPS+ of 106, as he showed some good power with 8 extra-base hits in his limited opportunities. He also had an excellent season with the AAA Norfolk Tides, where he hit .264/.357/.527 in 95 games, with 29 doubles and 19 homers. However, injuries messed with his 2023 season, when the Orioles took a big leap forward and ended up posting the best record in the American League. He was limited to just 75 minor league games, including rehab stints with the FCL Orioles and Class A Aberdeen IronBirds. He hit .245 in 68 games for Norfolk, with 17 homers and 49 RBIs. However, he only appeared in 14 major league games, going 2 for 30.

By the time spring training rolled around in 2024, the Orioles were awash in young players trying to make the major league roster including in the outfield Heston Kjerstad and Colton Cowser, both of whom were also former top picks who had been outstanding in the minors. Stowers had to state his case with his bat, and that he did on March 17th when he became the first player since Mike Zunino in 2018 to homer three times in a spring training game, doing so in a split-squad game against the Detroit Tigers. At that point, he was leading all Orioles batters with 7 homers and 13 RBIs - but his competitors were also doing well and it was clear that some players who were big league-ready would need to return to AAA for the time being. In spite of his great spring, he was sent down to the minors on March 22nd alongside Kjerstad and the top overall prospect in all of baseball, Jackson Holliday, as the Orioles simply had too much young talent to put everyone on the opening day roster. On April 3rd, he showed that his performance in spring training was no fluke as he had another three-homer game, this one with Norfolk, as the team set a number of records in a 26-11 win over the Charlotte Knights.

Further Reading

• Jake Rill and Jason Beck: "Fighting for a roster spot, Stowers homers in 3 straight at-bats: Orioles outfielder becomes first MLB player to hit 3 HRs in a spring game since 2018", mlb.com, March 17, 2024. [1]

Related Sites

• Kyle Stowers on mlb.com
• Stanford University bio