D. J. Stewart Debut Thursday vs. Staten Island

[ChuckS]

Stewart crossed the Mendoza line tonight with a 2 for 3 night.

Good to see, I still think a 21 year old advanced college bat taken in the first round should be smoking Short A pitching. He's also striking out in one of every four at bats. His start is pretty discouraging and I think we are beyond the small sample size excuse.

[eb45]

Good to see, I still think a 21 year old advanced college bat taken in the first round should be smoking Short A pitching. He's also striking out in one of every four at bats. His start is pretty discouraging and I think we are beyond the small sample size excuse.

No, we aren't.

[hoosiers]

I think Stewart is near .300 avg with near .380 obp last 10 games. Unfortunately, the guy has struck out 12 times the last 6 games.

I don't think we are past the small sample size (he is hitting much better recently), but I was hoping for a better start.

[ShaneDawg85]

I saw him play last Friday on fireworks night. Now, I'm in no way shape or form an expert on how to play the game. However, watching him at the plate and swinging is one of the strangest sights you'll ever see, and there have been some strange batting stances over the years. He is crouched so low that from a distance it looks like he's swinging from his knees. He was late on everything, and it just left me with no reason to believe that power is going to come from a stance that low. Nothing against a crouched hitting stance, plenty of guys have made it work. But I've never seen a guy down that low before, and from what I saw in that one game, I've no reason to think it'll work for Stewart.

[Frobby]

I think Stewart is near .300 avg with near .380 obp last 10 games. Unfortunately, the guy has struck out 12 times the last 6 games.

I don't think we are past the small sample size (he is hitting much better recently), but I was hoping for a better start.

Agreed. He has hit .308/.386/.538 over his last 10 games. I'd like to see him keep up at about that rate the rest of the season, in which was I won't be too concerned with his slow start. However, as a 1st round college bat, I was hoping he'd have immediate success at Aberdeen and be promoted to Delmarva by about now, and he's not done enough to warrant that.

[weams]

Agreed. He has hit .308/.386/.538 over his last 10 games. I'd like to see him keep up at about that rate the rest of the season, in which was I won't be too concerned with his slow start. However, as a 1st round college bat, I was hoping he'd have immediate success at Aberdeen and be promoted to Delmarva by about now, and he's not done enough to warrant that.

He was just a bit rusty. Too much at stake. I think he will be fine. I hope. Heck. I am just guessing.

[OsEatAlEast]

I saw him play last Friday on fireworks night. Now, I'm in no way shape or form an expert on how to play the game. However, watching him at the plate and swinging is one of the strangest sights you'll ever see, and there have been some strange batting stances over the years. He is crouched so low that from a distance it looks like he's swinging from his knees. He was late on everything, and it just left me with no reason to believe that power is going to come from a stance that low. Nothing against a crouched hitting stance, plenty of guys have made it work. But I've never seen a guy down that low before, and from what I saw in that one game, I've no reason to think it'll work for Stewart.

Is he lower than Phil Plantier was?

[Number5]

I saw him play last Friday on fireworks night. Now, I'm in no way shape or form an expert on how to play the game. However, watching him at the plate and swinging is one of the strangest sights you'll ever see, and there have been some strange batting stances over the years. He is crouched so low that from a distance it looks like he's swinging from his knees. He was late on everything, and it just left me with no reason to believe that power is going to come from a stance that low. Nothing against a crouched hitting stance, plenty of guys have made it work. But I've never seen a guy down that low before, and from what I saw in that one game, I've no reason to think it'll work for Stewart.

[OsEatAlEast]

Phil Plantier

D.J. Stewart

[Number5]

Jeff Bagwell

[eb45]

Jeff Bagwell hit for plenty of power out of his crouch. So did Stewart at FSU and on the Cape.

There's only one swing of video up from Stewart's pro career, but to me it looks like he's wrapping his bat around his head more than I've ever seen him do.

[Tony-OH]

Jeff Bagwell hit for plenty of power out of his crouch. So did Stewart at FSU and on the Cape.

There's only one swing of video up from Stewart's pro career, but to me it looks like he's wrapping his bat around his head more than I've ever seen him do.

He did once he took the magic Ken Camaniti Houston power juice!

[EagleOriole]

Solid 2-4, with BB last night lifts him to .211/.300/.347/.647 ---- baby steps in the right direction.

[weams]

He did once he took the magic Ken Camaniti Houston power juice!

Yes. Yes he did.

[Otter]

I saw him play last Friday on fireworks night. Now, I'm in no way shape or form an expert on how to play the game. However, watching him at the plate and swinging is one of the strangest sights you'll ever see, and there have been some strange batting stances over the years. He is crouched so low that from a distance it looks like he's swinging from his knees. He was late on everything, and it just left me with no reason to believe that power is going to come from a stance that low. Nothing against a crouched hitting stance, plenty of guys have made it work. But I've never seen a guy down that low before, and from what I saw in that one game, I've no reason to think it'll work for Stewart.

Thanks for the in-person report. The first time I watched Stewart on TV at FSU, I thought the same thing: how would he get around on premium velocity, especially on the inside corner. However, after watching him more and more in college he didn't seem to have difficulty even with mid 90s velocity. I agree it's incredibly unusual, but I suspect the O's will let him stay in that crouch until it's painfully obvious it's not working.