Stowers talks about his return to Orioles

DETROIT – Kyle Stowers was removed for a pinch-hitter last night in Charlotte and had no idea why.

Stowers found out later that the Orioles were promoting him.

“Just really excited,” he said this morning. “Obviously, happy to be back up here. It’s obviously a great group in Norfolk and a great group up here, so it’s just fun that there’s a lot of winning going around. Definitely excited to be back up here.”

The Orioles optioned Stowers on April 9 to get more regular at-bats. He responded by batting .293/.427/.569 (17-for-58) with a double, five home runs, 17 RBIs, 13 walks and 17 strikeouts in 17 games.

“I think obviously reps are key, and so it’s good to get back to playing every day and just kind of get in a rhythm,” he said. “Hopefully, I can continue to build off what was going on down there.”

The mental part of the sport became a challenge for Stowers and he conquered it. Disappointed to be optioned but knowing that he had to brush it off and do his job, which would lead to another opportunity in the majors.

“You want to be up here but you also want to play,” he said. “It’s an interesting balance, but obviously I think what most baseball players will tell you is it’s about taking things day by day and you try to put up a season or a week or a month of good numbers in a short stretch, and that’s when things can go rough. Just try to have good at-bats and get a little better.”

“Whenever you send a guy down, you want to make sure they’re not going down with pessimistic attitude or disgruntled, but kind of a little bit of a fire to get back up, and he did that,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “This last week or so he’s swung the heck out of the bat, so hopefully he can continue it up here.”

Stowers said he concentrated on being “ready to launch” on time when in a powerful position.

“I think early in the season you kind of find that timing is probably the biggest key.”

Stowers is rockin’ a mustache.

“Just, why not?” he said with a grin. “I had a goatee going for a little bit and then trimmed it off. We’ll see how long I keep it going.”

Joey Ortiz was optioned this morning after going 2-for-8 with four RBIs and making three starts at second base. Three of his RBIs came in his debut, tying Don Baylor for the club record.

“He played a great brand of baseball,” Hyde said. “I love how he played, loved the at-bats he took. Got some huge hits for us. The defense was outstanding. The double play turn that we didn’t get, that was probably the fastest I’ve seen this year. He showed extremely well. I’m sure he’ll be back up here at some point. It was fun to watch him the last couple days.”

Dillon Tate was supposed to pitch today at Double-A Bowie, but the Baysox were rained out.

The Royals are listing their starters for the upcoming series in Kansas City as Ryan Yarbrough on Tuesday, Zack Greinke Wednesday and Jordan Lyles Thursday.