ATLANTA — DJ Stewart received messages Tuesday from friends back home in Florida who were happy for his latest success, but not thrilled against whom it had occurred.
The Mets outfielder was raised squarely in Braves country in Jacksonville, Fla., where he attended The Bolles School — the same high school as Atlanta’s Hall of Fame third baseman Chipper Jones. Stewart grew up rooting for the Braves, with Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones two of his baseball heroes.
Over the past week Stewart has imitated Chipper Jones.
He entered the Mets’ game Tuesday at Truist Park with five homers and nine RBIs in his last six games, helping revitalize a lineup that has underwhelmed for much of the season.
Stewart homered on Monday and brought in another run with a sacrifice bunt, showing his versatility.
“It’s a blessing,” said Stewart, who went 1-for-4 in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Braves on Tuesday night at Truist Field. “One of the biggest reasons for me signing here was my relationship with Buck [Showalter] and him knowing whatever I am capable of doing when I’m healthy.”
Stewart, 29, was a first-round draft pick (25th overall) by the Orioles from Florida State in 2015.
He debuted with the major league club three years later, in Showalter’s final season as manager in Baltimore.
After limited chances and success with the Orioles (only once in five seasons did he appear in more than 50 games), Stewart was granted free agency last November and Showalter was quick to recommend him to the Mets’ front office.
“The thought was to take the best college hitter in the country [in 2015] and [the Orioles] thought DJ was,” Showalter said. “There was some thought whether he was going to end up in the outfield or first base. He always was a guy who walked to places, I remember that about him, and had some power. I talk a lot about guys that are 27, 28, 29 years old, sometimes they start figuring some things out and I hope that is the case with DJ.”
Stewart began this season at Triple-A Syracuse and debuted for the Mets on July 4.
His real opportunity arrived in August, following the departures of Tommy Pham and Mark Canha through trades and the health issues that have kept veteran outfielder Starling Marte sidelined.
Stewart entered Tuesday with a .246/.338/.574 slash line with six homers and 12 RBIs for a Mets team that was eight games below .500.
“This isn’t the exact plan I had going forward,” Stewart said. “I thought we would be in a little better position at this point of the season and I would be earning my way up here to help the team, but the role has changed: I’m playing a little bit more now, but the goal is the same, to contribute and help the team as best I can.”
In Showalter, he sees the same stickler for details and the manager who challenged him mentally with the Orioles, but the relationship is now different.
“I was a rookie at the time [in Baltimore] and he was not really giving me as much leniency because I was new to the game,” Stewart said. “Now I have more experience and I think he has more trust in me.”
Stewart said the regime that followed Showalter and general manager Dan Duquette in Baltimore wasn’t as invested in him, leaving him with limited opportunities.
Now he has 5 ½ weeks left to continue showing he might be a useful player for the Mets next season.
“I hope I am making an impression,” Stewart said. “I would love to be here next year, but I don’t know what tomorrow holds, so I am just going to do the best I can to put up numbers to make it hard to not have me here.”