Norby, Stowers reflect on time with O's in first game back in Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- It is never easy to find out you have been traded.

But that transaction is less painful to digest if a respected teammate is coming with you.

With two months to play in 2024, the Orioles were looking for a quality starting pitcher and the Marlins sought to fortify their lineup.

On July 30, 2024, infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers were traded from Baltimore to Miami for left-hander Trevor Rogers.

With the trade, Norby said he felt his world “slip upside down."

“I am so fortunate to be in Miami, to come from a great organization, to see what it is like,” Norby said of his time in Baltimore. “You can never expect to be traded, but thankfully Stowers was there with me and we got to go through it together. Kind of lean[ed] on each other. That's all we have done since."

For the first time since the trade, Norby and Stowers faced off against their former team Friday night at Oriole Park. Norby went 1-for-3 with a single and Stowers went 1-for-3 with a walk and a single in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss to O’s in Baltimore.

“It's where I debuted,” Stowers said as he sat in the visitors' dugout for the first time before the game. “I hit my first home run here. A lot of special moments. Well, I shouldn't say 'a lot' [laughs] -- a few special moments. I just keep going back to the people, because those are the guys I came up with in the Minor Leagues. Some of my best friends in the world."

The trade has paid major dividends for both clubs.

Rogers, Saturday’s scheduled starter, is 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA this season, with three of his five starts being scoreless for Baltimore.

Stowers, a first-time All-Star with the Marlins, is batting .279 with 16 homers and 48 RBIs this season, after struggling (.186/.262/.295) in his 50 games with Miami in 2024.

"I just feel like I've learned how to not put pressure on myself a little bit better,” Stowers said. “I was always battling that. Never have it figured out, but I think giving myself some grace. I kind of realized that I was the one person in my life who would be OK with me not having the baseball career that I think I should have.”

Norby made his Major League debut with the Orioles on June 3, 2024. The 25-year-old played nine games at second base for Baltimore after being drafted in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He was ranked as the O’s No. 5 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, at the time of trade.

“They helped me grow both mentally and physically as a person and as a player,” Norby said of his time with the Orioles. “Just the group of guys I was around all the time at every level. It was an unbelievable experience and I wish nothing but the best for them, except for these three games, obviously [laughs]. I miss them all.”

So, is there extra motivation to gain some quick revenge and try to take it to the club that traded you away?

“Go embrace [this feeling] and just try to go out and play,” said manager Clayton McCullough. “Guys come out and do really cool things against their former teams. I hope that happens for us in this series.”

Norby said one lasting effect of the trade was that his admiration and respect for Stowers has intensified since their Orioles days.

“When I met Kyle Stowers, I thought he was the best player in the organization. And [this] was in the time of Gunnar [Henderson] and Adley [Rutschman],” Norby said. "That's not even discrediting them, because they are unbelievable. I thought Kyle Stowers was our best pure hitter in the organization at that time when I got drafted."