Hudson joining Orioles tomorrow

The Orioles will fill up their 40-man roster tomorrow by purchasing outfielder Kyle Hudson's contract from Triple-A Norfolk. Hudson went 1-for-2 with a walk, run scored and two stolen bases tonight while leading off for the Tides in their 2-1 victory over Gwinnett. He's batting .297 with seven doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs and 26 steals in 68 games. It's been quite a climb for Hudson this season. He played in 23 games at Single-A Frederick this season, and 28 at Double-A Bowie, before joining the International League. Now he'll be an extra outfielder for the Orioles, who chose him in the fourth round of the 2008 draft out of the University of Illinois, where he also was a receiver on the football team. Hudson was batting a combined .295 in the minors this season. He led the Carolina League with 40 stolen bases last year while appearing in 136 games with Frederick. Hudson has never hit a home run in professional baseball. Manager Buck Showalter mentioned after tonight's game that he wanted to rest center fielder Adam Jones during a 13-0 blowout, but he ran out of bench players. Hudson would have allowed him to make the substitution. Pitcher Rick VandenHurk is the other non-roster player being brought up from the minors. The Orioles cleared room on the 40-man by trading Michael Gonzalez and outrighting pitchers Mike Ballard and Mitch Atkins.