Kyle Stowers 2024

[Rbiggs2525]

6 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Have to be a bit careful with this.  Santander is proven and is in his walk year.  If players sense you are screwing him by benching him after his success the last few years, that won’t go over well. 

Won’t go over well with who? Santander or players around the league? Either way I don’t care. He has a career 305 OBP and that’s a large sample size. Love Tony but he’s long gone next year. I’m giving his 15 million per year to Gunnar, Burnes, Bradish or free agent.

Ride the hot hand whether it’s for a week, 2 weeks, or the season.

[RZNJ]

Stowers seems like the opposite of Cowser.  He seems to love the changeup.    Great game.  He’s earning more looks.   Let’s see if he can take it and run.

SSS but his bat speed 75.7 is right there with Gunnar’s 75.6.

Edited May 27 by RZNJ

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

I'm glad Stowers had a great game but he had a 111 wRC+ in AAA at 26 years old. Holliday has a 134 wRC+ as a 20-year-old. In a league that has terrible pitching, Stowers struck out 27% of the time and was batting .240 with an OBP of .315, he was slugging which has never been the question but still has an OPS lower than Holliday despite being 6 years older. I'd be a little guarded in the hyperbole surrounding this sample size.

He also only had a 258 BABiP this year in the minors, which is unlucky, especially considering how hard he hits the ball.

Prior to this season, in 580ish at bats, his OpS was around 880 in AAA.

He isn’t likely to hit for a high average but he can be a good OpS guy.

Edited May 27 by Sports Guy

[Big Mac]

12 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He also only had a 258 BABiP this year in the minors, which is unlucky, especially considering how hard he hits the ball.

Prior to this season, in 580ish at bats, his OpS was around 880 in AAA.

He isn’t likely to hit for a high average but he can be a good OpS guy.

I could definitely see him putting up a slash line similar to Santander's with regular ABs.  Santander's .245/.305/.457 seems close to what I'd expect from Stowers, with a couple of peak years surpassing that similar to what Santander has done. 

Edited May 27 by Big Mac

[G54377]

I definitely feel more comfortable rolling with an OF of Cowser/Mullins/Stowers/Hays next year, assuming all are still on the team. Tony has had some big moments, but I think we can absorb his impending departure. 

[Hank Scorpio]

2 hours ago, Malike said:

I'm glad Stowers had a great game but he had a 111 wRC+ in AAA at 26 years old. Holliday has a 134 wRC+ as a 20-year-old. In a league that has terrible pitching, Stowers struck out 27% of the time and was batting .240 with an OBP of .315, he was slugging which has never been the question but still has an OPS lower than Holliday despite being 6 years older. I'd be a little guarded in the hyperbole surrounding this sample size.

Boo this man. Booooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

[Tony-OH]

Stowers has always had very good EVs in the minors and hits lefties and righties. As Frobby pointed out, he's a hot/cold guy for sure, but I do think he's ready for everyday PAs for awhile. Sometimes you have to ride the hot bat.

[ScGO's]

I'd like to see Stowers get a string of ABs. I feel of all our prospects, he was not given a fair shake. He OPS+'d 106 in 2022 in a little under 100 PAs. He was never given a shot in 2023, and here he is now in 2024, wondering if he can get another chance (going on 27 years old).

Between Cowser, Santander, Mullins, and Hays, I'd like to see Stowers get 3 starts every 4 games. They have only ever let Kyle hit against LH pitchers 7 times in his career! and he's OPSing 1.571.  I believe he showed he could hit LH pitching in the minors as well.

Give him the same timeline you gave Holiday. If he performs, he's either your guy or you can trade him. If he bombs, then DFA or trade for something minimal and move on.

[Bemorewins]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

Stowers seems like the opposite of Cowser.  He seems to love the changeup.    Great game.  He’s earning more looks.   Let’s see if he can take it and run.

SSS but his bat speed 75.7 is right there with Gunnar’s 75.6.

What separates Gunnar is the ability to barrel balls with that bat speed. 

I’m not expecting anything close to anything resembling Gunnar from Stowers. But it doesn’t take being great (like Gunnar) to be better than Hays/Mullins/ or even Santander (for much of this season).

[Bemorewins]

46 minutes ago, G54377 said:

I definitely feel more comfortable rolling with an OF of Cowser/Mullins/Stowers/Hays next year, assuming all are still on the team. Tony has had some big moments, but I think we can absorb his impending departure. 

At least one of Mayo or Kjerstad is likely to be in that mix.

[lfallo1]

26 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

He was never given a shot in 2023, and here he is now in 2024, wondering if he can get another chance (going on 27 years old).

It was a short stint, but believe he had around 8 starts in the first two weeks of May 2023 and went something like 2 for 26 before getting sent back down.  It wasn't an overly extensive look, but in any case, he did get consecutive starts and just didn't perform at the plate.  Good to see him taking immediate advantage of the opportunity here in 2024.  Imagine Hyde will have him in the starting lineup a few more times this week.  Great news that some of the OF bats are showing life.

[luismatos4prez]

Career xwOBA as a Norfolk Tide:

1. Ryan O'Hearn (.411)

2. Heston Kjerstad (.385) (.410 this year)

3. Colton Cowser (.379)

4. Jackson Holliday (.368)

5. Kyle Stowers (.362) (.332 this year)

6. Jordan Westburg (.362)

7. Coby Mayo (.360) (.378 this year)

8. Terrin Vavra (.358)

9. Joey Ortiz (.336)

10. Connor Norby (.315) (.315 this year)

11. Cesar Prieto (.306)

I found this list very interesting. I think Stowers and Kjerstad are big league hitters. I want them getting ML at bats. 

Source

[baltfan]

2 hours ago, Rbiggs2525 said:

Won’t go over well with who? Santander or players around the league? Either way I don’t care. He has a career 305 OBP and that’s a large sample size. Love Tony but he’s long gone next year. I’m giving his 15 million per year to Gunnar, Burnes, Bradish or free agent.

Ride the hot hand whether it’s for a week, 2 weeks, or the season.

Other players on the team. He is very well respected in the clubhouse.  No one wants to think a mediocre two months will cost them a job.  Now, if the struggles continue or someone gets really hot, people can be a bit more understanding. 

[Brooks The Great]

27 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Other players on the team. He is very well respected in the clubhouse.  No one wants to think a mediocre two months will cost them a job.  Now, if the struggles continue or someone gets really hot, people can be a bit more understanding. 

Other players will understand that a mediocre two months could cost them a job if the player losing his job only has a few months left with the team and will be a free agent the following season. Everyone knows Santander isn't likely to be here next season.

Many of the other guys on the team are the younger players anyway - the core is Gunnar, Adley, Westburg, Cowser, and Grayson. With Stowers hopefully on the verge of more playing time and Kjerstad, Mayo, and Holliday most likely on the way later this season.

I think it sends a worse message to all the players in the organization to continue favoring underperforming veterans and not give opportunities to young prospects who clearly deserve playing time - Stowers, Kjerstad, Norby, and Ortiz last season.

Edited May 28 by Brooks The Great

[24fps]

25 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Other players on the team. He is very well respected in the clubhouse.  No one wants to think a mediocre two months will cost them a job.  Now, if the struggles continue or someone gets really hot, people can be a bit more understanding. 

A team this talented with several qualified minor leaguers deserving of ML at bats is not a normal situation.  Santander - who I like a lot - is smart enough to know that times have changed.  I don't think he's under any illusions at all, nor anyone else.