Demetrius Jerome Stewart (born November 30, 1993) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. Stewart played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

Amateur career

Stewart attended the

Bolles School The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a lower school (including pre-kindergarten), a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jackson ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He played both baseball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in high school. Stewart was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the 28th round of the

2012 Major League Baseball Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

. He did not sign with the Yankees and enrolled at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

to play

for the

As a freshman in 2013, Stewart played in 60 games, leading the team in

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(82), batting average (), doubles (25) and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

(). He also added five

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 59

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs). In 2013, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and was named a league all-star. As a sophomore in 2014, Stewart was named the

Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year is a baseball award given to the Atlantic Coast Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1969 season, with both pitchers and position players eligible. ...

after batting with seven home runs and 50 RBIs. He was also named an All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). In March, he was suspended four games for his role in benches-clearing brawl against the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team during the summer.

Professional career

Baltimore Orioles

The

selected Stewart in the first round, with the 25th overall selection, in the

2015 MLB Draft Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. Stewart signed with the Orioles, receiving a $2,064,500

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He spent 2015 with the Aberdeen Ironbirds, where he batted with six home runs and 24 RBIs. Stewart spent the 2016 season with both the Delmarva Shorebirds and the Frederick Keys, where he batted a combined with ten home runs and 55 RBIs between both clubs. In 2017, he played for the

Bowie Baysox The Bowie Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. History From 1989 to 1992, ...

, where he posted a batting average, 21 home runs, 79 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases. On September 11, 2018, Stewart was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut the next day against the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. Stewart began the 2019 season in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides, but was recalled to the majors on May 28, 2019, after posting a .316/.425/.586 line with eight home runs. On August 6, 2019, while attempting to field a fly ball hit by Mike Ford of the

, Stewart dove too early and was struck on the side of the head by the ball, suffering a concussion and being replaced in the game by Jace Peterson. In 2020 for the Orioles, Stewart slashed .193/.355/.432 with seven home runs and 15 RBIs over 88 at bats. In 2021, he slashed .204/.324/.374 with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in 270 at bats. Stewart went 0-for-3 in three games in the 2022 season before he was designated for assignment on April 19. On April 26, Stewart cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. Appearing in 29 games for Norfolk to round out the year, Stewart slashed .256/.391/.488 with six home runs and 17 RBIs. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

New York Mets

On February 2, 2023, Stewart signed a minor league contract with the

organization, based at least in part on his experience with Mets manager

Buck Showalter William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American professional baseball manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as manager of the New York Yankees (1992–1995), Arizona Diamondb ...

while Showalter was manager of the Orioles. He began the 2023 season with the

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which open ...

, playing in 51 games and hitting .229/.362/.516 with 16 home runs and 41 RBI. On July 4, Stewart was selected to the major league roster. After a strong performance to close out the 2023 season, the Mets brought Stewart back on a one-year contract.

Personal life

Stewart's father, Reggie, was selected by the San Diego Padres in the thirteenth round of the

1991 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental first round selections Compensation picks Other notable players *Kevin Stocker, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Philade ...

and played a few seasons of

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

and independent baseball.

References

External links

Florida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, DJ 1993 births Living people Aberdeen IronBirds players All-American college baseball players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Florida Bowie Baysox players Delmarva Shorebirds players Florida Complex League Orioles players Florida State Seminoles baseball players Frederick Keys players Major League Baseball outfielders New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players People from Yulee, Florida Peoria Javelinas players Syracuse Mets players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players African-American baseball players