Brandon Hyde on Stewart DFA, Mullins' struggles and more

OAKLAND – The Orioles today designated outfielder DJ Stewart for assignment. Their 2015 first-round pick out of Florida State had shown flashes of power and his first-round potential, but didn’t do that nearly enough. The club needed a 40-man roster spot today for right-hander Chris Ellis to start tonight, and Stewart's was the one he got.

Stewart dealt with a bruised hand in spring training but still made the opening day roster despite limited spring chances. He went 0-for-3 in three pinch-hitting appearances against Tampa Bay and was then optioned to Triple-A, where he went 1-for-5 with the Norfolk Tides.

“DJ is just an outstanding guy and someone that has been around here since I’ve been here. Hard to see a guy you’ve been around a lot go," O’s manager Brandon Hyde said today during his pregame press briefing. "But I’m really hoping for the best with him. He’s a fantastic human being and I really wish him the best.”

Over parts of five years and 195 games with the Orioles, Stewart batted .213/.327/.400 with 21 doubles, 26 home runs and 73 RBIs.

Outfielder Austin Hays, drafted one year after Stewart, has spent a lot of time as his teammate in both the majors and minors. During an interview with reporters today, and with the news about Stewart already out, Hays was asked about Stewart. He had not yet heard the news of the move.

“That is the first I’ve heard that. He’s a friend of mine," said Hays. "We’ve played a lot of games together and I think he’s a great guy and a great teammate. He dealt with a lot of injuries, just trying to get healthy. This year he had a tough camp, getting hit in the hand and didn’t have too many at-bats. So I hope he gets claimed by somebody and gets an opportunity to show what he can do,” said Hays.

The Orioles today officially added Ellis to the roster to make tonight’s start. He made six starts late last year for Baltimore, pitching to a 2.49 ERA and 1.224 WHIP. In his one outing this year, which was at Triple-A, he threw four hitless and scoreless frames.

“Chris did a really good job for us last year,” Hyde said. “Kind of came out of nowhere for us. Got him off waivers from the Rays. Saw him pitch out of the bullpen against us and he carved us up a few innings. And then we claimed him and kind of threw him right into our rotation. He gave us a chance to win in every one of his starts. He’s not all the way built up, he’s somewhere in the four-inning range.”

Hyde hopes tonight is the night for his offense, which has scored just 22 runs on the year, was held to one run last night and has scored two runs or fewer seven times.

Several regulars are scuffling, including 2021 Most Valuable Oriole Cedric Mullins, who is batting .175 with a .633 OPS. He is 2-for-19 his last five games and his strikeout rate, which was 18.5 last season, is 31.8 to begin 2022.

“Just press,” Hyde said about some recent Mullins at-bats. “Something I was little bit concerned about going into spring training. Because anytime a guy has a really good year, he gets asked about it a lot. Can he repeat it? And I didn’t think that was fair, honestly, to him. I just wanted him to go play with the same mindset he did last year. It’s only natural he is going to try and live up to an incredible season that he had.

“And he got off to a little bit of a slow start, just because he’s trying to do a little too much. That’s why you see a lot of pull-side ground balls. He’s driven a few to the pull side too, which is nice. But last year he was a little more handsy up the middle of the field and the left side of the diamond, just because he was a little more relaxed, and right now he’s just a little tense. You know what, he hit a ground ball to the third baseman last night, a ball out over the plate. I think that was a good sign. To be able to stay on the ball on that side of the field. I think it’s just a matter of time. He just needs to relax and go play."

The Orioles (3-7) take a team ERA of 2.86 into tonight's second game of a four-game series. That ranks second-best in the American League and fifth in the major leagues. It's the 17th time in club history, and first since 1998, that O's pitchers have a carried a sub 3.00 ERA through the first 10 games of a season.