1:23pm: Baltimore will choice prime outfield prospect Heston Kjerstad to Norfolk to make room for Stowers, tweets Ghiroli.
12:50pm: The Orioles introduced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Corbin Martin off waivers from the Brewers. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore’s 40-man roster had an open spot and is now at capability. It appears as if this shall be simply considered one of a number of strikes for Baltimore at the moment, as Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic additionally reviews that the O’s are calling up outfielder Kyle Stowers from Norfolk. The crew has but to announce that transfer or any corresponding transactions.
Martin, 28, was a second-round choose of the Astros in 2017 who went from Houston to Arizona as one of many headline items in 2019’s Zack Greinke blockbuster. His profession trajectory has been impacted by accidents — Tommy John surgical procedure most notably. Martin pitched within the massive leagues in 2019, 2021 and 2022 however has simply 57 2/3 MLB frames beneath his belt. He’s limped to a 6.71 earned run common in that point, fanning a effectively below-average 19% of his opponents towards a weighty 13.6% stroll charge.
Getting into that 2019 season wherein he was traded, Martin ranked 78th and 81st on the respective top-100 prospect lists revealed by Baseball America and MLB.com. He was touted as a high-probability mid-rotation arm, having simply wrapped up a season that noticed him toss 122 innings of two.51 ERA ball with a 25.5% strikeout charge and seven.3% stroll charge between Excessive-A and Double-A. He underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in early July and was included within the aforementioned Greinke commerce simply weeks later — a deal that was accomplished and filed simply seconds earlier than the deadline. Martin missed your entire 2020 season consequently and hasn’t regarded the identical in any of his post-surgery seasons.
In components of three seasons since that ligament reconstruction, Martin has pitched to an ERA north of 6.00 in Triple-A. Hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League caveat however, that kind of efficiency merely doesn’t measure as much as his prior promise. He was tagged for 21 runs in 16 massive league innings with Arizona in 2021, posted a 6.08 ERA in 77 frames with the D-backs in 2022, and missed your entire 2023 season after struggling a torn tendon in his latissimus dorsi throughout spring coaching.
Extra regarding than the poor ERA marks was the evaporation of Martin’s command post-elbow surgical procedure. The 7.3% stroll charge he posted in 2018 looks like a distant reminiscence. Martin issued a free move to 11.4% of his opponents in 2021-22 (MLB and Triple-A mixed). He walked an enormous 13 of fifty opponents up to now in 2024 (26%).
All of these struggles apart, it’s not fully shocking to see the Orioles declare Martin. Baltimore common supervisor Mike Elias was the Astros’ scouting director in 2017 once they chosen Martin with the 56th total choose within the draft and paid him a $1MM signing bonus. Elias is keenly conversant in Martin — each because the pitcher he was shaping as much as be previous to his accidents and as an individual.
As for Stowers, he’ll return to the large leagues for a 3rd straight season. He hit pretty effectively in a small pattern of 98 plate appearances in 2022 earlier than floundering via a 2-for-30 stretch on the plate within the majors final season. The lefty-swinging 26-year-old is out to a .240/.315/.541 begin in Norfolk this season and has already socked 11 residence runs in 165 journeys to the plate.
Contact stays one thing of a problem, as Stowers continues to be punching out in simply shy of 27% of his plate appearances towards a 7.9% stroll charge. Nonetheless, he’ll add some left-handed pop to Baltimore’s outfield combine in the interim. Stowers has spent the majority of his professional profession in proper subject however has expertise in all three spots and has spent extra time in heart this 12 months (115 innings) than both proper subject (89) or left subject (54).
