DJ Stewart: Former Mets Outfielder (2023 - 2024)

Demetrius Jerome Stewart was born November 30th, 1993, in Gainesville, Florida. His father Reggie had been drafted by the San Diego Padres & played minor league ball but never got to the major leagues.

DJ attended high school in Jacksonville where he played both baseball & football. 

He was originally drafted by the AL New York team but did not sign. Instead, he chose to attend Florida State University playing baseball for the Seminoles.

Florida State: In his first year with the Seminoles, Stewart hit .364 & followed in his sophomore year getting voted Atlantic Coast Player of the Year a well as All-American. In 2019 he was named to the Seminoles baseball All- Decade team.

In 2016 he was the Baltimore Orioles first round draft pick, the 25th overall player chosen.

In 2018 at AAA Norfolk, DJ hit 12 HRs with 55 RBIs getting a September call up by then Orioles manager Buk Showalter.

MLB Career: On September 12th, he debuted in a 10-0 loss to Oakland. 

HRs in Back to Back Games: On September 13th, he hit his first career HR, a solo shot off the Blue Jays Marco Estrada in a 2-1 win over Toronto. In his next game, he homered off New York's David Robertson in a 10-8 loss. 

Stewart would add another HR that month as well. In 17 games he hit three HRs with 10 RBIs batting .250.

2019: The next year he was brought up in late May but was sent back down a week later. He returned to the O's in. On August 6th, in his second game back up, he misjudged a Mike Ford fly ball, diving too early then getting hit in the head with the ball giving him a concussion. He missed almost two weeks of action before he could return. 

On the season in 44 games he hit four HRs with 15 RBIs.

After the Covid-19 shortened season, in 2021 to have his most productive season & see the most playing time of his career. In 100 games he hit 12 HRs with 10 doubles & 33 RBIs but batted just .204.

In 2022 after just three games, he was designated for assignment  cleared waivers & was sent to AAA Norfolk where he hit .256 in 29 games. 

Mets Career: In February 2023, due to his past relationship with new Mets manager Buck Showalter, Stewart signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets. He started the season at AAA Syracuse batting .229 in 51 games there.

With the Mets struggling at the big-league level, Stewart was brought up to the Mets on July 4th.
In his Mets debut, he was brought in to pinch run then stayed in the game & collected a sac fly RBI in a 8-5 win in Arizona.

First Mets HR: On July 18th, Stewart hit his first Mets HR, coming off the White Sox Lucas Giolito in an 11-10 win at Citi Field. 

At the trade deadline the Mets traded Mark Canha & Tommy Pham, allowing Stewart a chance to work his way into the line up.

From August 13th to August 21st, DJ hit .348 with five HRs & 10 RBIs.

On August 15th, he began his hot streak with a two run HR off the Pirates Colin Shelby.

Multi HR Game: On August 16th, in an 8-3 win over the Pirates at Citi Field, Stewart had a first Mets multi-HR game, the third of his career. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, he homered off Johan Oviedo & then in the 5th inning, hit a two-run shot off Ryan Boruck.

On August 19th,  Stewart  hit a solo HR off the Cardinals Mike Mikolas in a 13-2 win at Citi Field. Two games later he hit his fifth HR of the  week in a 10-4 win over the Braves.

On August 28th, playing in two games of a three game series with 

eventual World Champion Texas Rangers at Citi Field, Stewart hit three HRs driving in five runs. 

Multi-HR Game & Walk Off Hit By Pitch: In the August 30th 6-5 win, Stewart had his third multi-HR  game of the season. In the 2nd inning he hit a solo shot off Dave Dunning going back-to-back with Daniel Vogelbach. Later in the 8th inning he hit a two run shot off Jose Leclerc. 

In the top of the 9th, the big guy made a running catch crashing into the right field wall holding onto the ball & saving the game. In the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded & no one out he was hit by a pitch by Aroldis Chapman bringing in Jeff McNeil as the games winning run.

On September 2nd, in an 8-7 loss at Seattle, Stewart hit a three run HR off Luis Castillo for his tenth HR of the year.

On September 10th, in a scoreless tie in the top of the 9th inning at Minnesota, Stewart doubled off Griffin Jax driving in the only two runs of the game in a combined Mets shut out.

On the season, in 58 games he was one of the few pleasant surprises for the 2023 Mets, he batted
.244 with 11 HRs 9 doubles & 26 RBIs, posting a .333 on base% & .840 OPS. In 48 games in the outfield, he made just one error & had one assist with a .988 fielding %.

His strong output had the Mets give him a one year deal for 2024.

Quotes- DJ Stewart: " I love New York, I really enjoy being here. My family enjoys it. I'm hoping I do enough to stay here."

2024: On April 8th, Stewart came to bat with one on & two outs in a 5-5 tie in Atlanta. He put the Mets ahead with a two run HR off Pierce Johnson. Jeff McNeil also homered in the inning leading to the 8-6 win. Two games later he homered again in a 16-4 Mets blow out victory.

From April 11th thru April 19th Stewart drove in runs in five straight games, with ten RBIs over seven game span & three multi-RBI games.

Multi-Three RBI Games: On April 19th he had his season high multi-three RBI game with a solo HR off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, an RBI single & sac fly.

On April 30th in a 4-2 win over the Cubs at Citi Field he hit a three run HR off Adbert Alzolay for his second three RBI game of the month.

On June 17th, his average fell to .184 but he had his third multi-three RBI game with a three run HR on the Rangers Jon Gray in a 14-2 win at Texas

As the Mets began to win games Stewart would struggle not hitting a HR or driving in a run until the end of July when his average fell to .172. He was sent down to AAA Syracuse returning for three games in September collecting two more hits.

In 74 games he hit .177 with 5 HRs four doubles 19 RBIs & a .622 OPS.

Stewart spent 2025 at AAA Indianapolis batting .125 in 45 games. He did not make the post season roster & was granted free agency at the end of the season.

Family: DJ is married to Brooke Stewart, who is a nurse at Baptist Hospital in the Jacksonville area. Together they have one daughter.