The Frequent Flyer
Brock Stewart discusses life going between Triple-A and the Major Leagues
Baseball players go through plenty of ups and downs.
But I’m not talking about performance.
I’m talking about the hundreds of players who get called up to the big leagues every year.
And since there are only 25 spots on an active Major League roster, most of the time their stay can be brief, leaving a lot of players traversing a worn-out path from Triple-A to the bigs and back.
This year, Oklahoma City Dodgers starting pitcher Brock Stewart paved his own path from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles and back.
Between April 29 and June 20, Stewart was recalled six times by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He estimates that he took about 20 flights going back-and-forth.
“There have been a few exhausting trips,” Stewart said.
One trip in particular that stood out to Stewart was when he had to meet the Dodgers in Monterrey, Mexico for a three-game series against the Padres.
After an OKC Dodgers game against Colorado Springs May 5, Stewart was informed around midnight that he would be needed to pitch for the big league club and make his way to Mexico for a day game. His original flight schedule was to leave OKC on a 7:30 a.m. flight for Dallas. But those plans changed quickly.
“We take off and about 20 minutes in the air the pilot comes on and tells us that we have to turn around because there are landing gear issues. So we go back to OKC,” Stewart said.
He then found another flight that “took off about two hours later to Dallas. I had about a two-hour layover in Dallas. Then flew from Dallas to Monterrey,” Stewart said. “I landed in the top of the fourth inning, got to the field in the top of the sixth and pitched the eighth inning.”
Even with the travel delay and arriving at the ballpark late, he went on to pitch a scoreless eighth inning in the final game of the series in Mexico. Hours afterward, Stewart took the team charter back to Los Angeles and was told there he would be going back down to OKC.
“I spent one night in L.A., and then took two flights back to OKC. So a total of six flights in about 36 hours,” Stewart said.
Though six flights in 36 hours isn’t typical for a call-up and demotion back to Triple-A, the timetable of events leading up to it aren’t that different.
“(The Dodgers) play most of their games on the West Coast and they get over at midnight or one our (Central) time. So, about an hour after those games is when they would call Bill Haselman (OKC’s Manager) and then he would call me. Most of the time you’re getting notified at 1–2 a.m.,” Stewart said.
Then, Scott Akasaki, the Director of Team Travel for Los Angeles, gets in contact with the player to make arrangements to meet the team wherever Los Angeles might be playing.
“He texts or emails me the flight information about 15 minutes after I get the call that I’m going up,” Stewart said. “Then I text him once I land in L.A. or wherever the team is, and he sets up a driver to go to the hotel or ballpark.”
Those arrangements are dictated by what time the game is or if Los Angeles needs a player there by a certain time. If it is a night game, Stewart said the flight usually isn’t until around noon. But if it is a day game, or they want you there as soon as possible, the player is on the first flight out at daybreak.
With this unpredictable schedule, Stewart says he has learned when and how to prepare.
“If there was a pitcher that got hurt and put on the DL or if there is just a really long game that went into extras innings, they might need a fresh arm the next day,” Stewart said.
When he sees this, Stewart starts to pack and gets everything situated before he even gets the call.
Sometimes he gets the call, and sometimes he doesn’t. He just likes to be prepared so he doesn’t have to scramble at the last minute.
However, scouting opponents for a potential appearance in the big leagues doesn’t start until Stewart gets word he is definitely going up.
“I don’t think about [the opponent] till I get the call. I’m already thinking about a lot. If I’m here (OKC), I’m focused on pitching in Triple-A,” he said.
The times when Stewart did get the call this year, it was mostly to pitch in relief, instead of his typical starting role in OKC — which left his routine in flux.
“My routine was changing every day,” Stewart said. “In the bullpen, you don’t know when you’re pitching. You have to stay ready and tailor your day around making sure your body is ready come game time. Whereas if you’re not pitching that day, you can get after it and exhaust yourself to get ready for the start coming in a few days.”
But just because Stewart gets called up to the bigs, it doesn’t mean he will stay there. Once a pitcher exceeds a certain number of pitches in one game, he will have to rest for a few days. And with the limitation of 25 players on the active roster, each team usually — especially if he isn’t an established big leaguer — wants to replace the tired arm with a fresh arm. Thus, they may send down a pitcher that requires rest to Triple-A and call-up a pitcher that can pitch sooner.
Since Stewart returned to OKC June 20, he was not recalled by Los Angeles until the end of the regular season.
This allowed Stewart to settle into a starting pitcher’s routine and show why Los Angeles called upon him early in the season.
“My routine definitely changed a ton in the first few months of the season when I was up and down,” Stewart said. “Being here the past few months I’ve been able to settle into a routine. I think that’s why I’ve had a lot of success here. Baseball players are creatures of habit. We get in a routine and it helps us.”
In his final 13 starts of the season with OKC, Stewart registered a 3.16 ERA over 71.2 innings. In addition, he held the opposition to one or fewer runs in six starts.
Next year, since Stewart is out of minor league options, he will have to make a Major League roster out of Spring Training or not be on the 40-man roster. This gives him hope that he will be able to do what he’s done this year with OKC next year in the Majors — without all the ups and downs.
“I’m looking forward to the day that I can get in a routine at the big league level,” Stewart said. “I’m a firm believer that my best pitching days are ahead of me.”
