NORFOLK — Connor Norby’s long-awaited first taste of the major leagues came with a lesson, but it had little to do with learning the nuances of playing the game at its highest level.
It was more about the realization that, as the former East Carolina star has figured all along, he belongs up there.
Norby, a 24-year-old second baseman and outfielder, has spent a full season and parts of two others with the Norfolk Tides. He finally had his contract selected June 3 when Orioles infielder Jorge Mateo went on the seven-day injured list with a concussion on the same day.
Norby played in four games at second base in the big leagues, hitting .214 with his first MLB home run while playing flawless defense.
The brief stint proved what he’d always suspected.
“The biggest thing I learned is that I can play at that level,” Norby said a day after returning to the Tides. “I always thought I could, and it just confirmed it for me. And I think I showed a lot of people that I can.”
Few have doubted him, and with good reason. Norby hit .290 with 21 homers and 92 RBIs in 138 games with Norfolk last season, tying for the International League lead with 40 doubles.
A second-round draft pick out of ECU in 2021, Norby entered Saturday night’s Triple-A game against Memphis hitting .286 with nine homers and 36 RBIs through 53 games with the Tides this season.
As much as he’s proven himself in Triple-A, Norby is one of several players trapped in the logjam that is the upper levels of the Orioles’ stacked minor league system.
Baltimore’s farm is regarded by many as the best in the game, and as the defending AL East champion and a current contender, the big league club is not exactly hurting for warm bodies.
When the speedy Mateo, a five-year major league veteran and a perennial Gold Glove candidate, returned, Norby was no longer needed. The Orioles optioned him back to Norfolk on Tuesday, and he arrived two days later.
It’s a familiar refrain for Tides players in recent years.
Keeping Norby’s head on straight after his return, Norfolk manager Buck Britton said, likely won’t be an issue.
“They’re well aware that we’ve got one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, so it’s hard to go up there and crack it,” Britton said. “But when that next opportunity arises, I know he wants to be the guy. So I don’t think it’s going to be hard to kind of keep him going. And he’s kind of that type of player anyway. He kind of plays with a chip on his shoulder, kind of that grinder type of guy. He’s probably one of the low men on the totem pole as far as worrying about, for sure.”
As is often the case, Norby’s call-up was hardly easy. He was at home in Virginia Beach after a day game the night he got the news. After packing, he finally got to bed at about 1:30 a.m.
Norby and left-hander Nick Vespi, whose contract had also been selected, were picked up at around 4:20 a.m. and driven to Washington, where they boarded a flight to Toronto at about 10 a.m.
He played that night, going 0-for-3 in his debut. But even though the game was a blur, he wasn’t looking to make excuses.
“It was a really long day,” Norby said. “I was exhausted. I had the adrenaline through the roof. I had probably too much caffeine for our strength coaches’ liking. I felt like I didn’t see a pitch until my third at-bat that night. But the third at-bat, I felt a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more of my legs. I tried slowing it down as best I could at that point.”
Norby hit one ball hard off former Tides right-hander and Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman, which boosted his confidence.
The next day, back in the lineup again, Norby asked a few veteran players a simple question: “Is it going to feel like baseball a little bit more today?”
“They were like, ‘Yeah,’” Norby said. “And it did. Every single day that I kept going back out there, it felt more and more like baseball.”
That second night, Norby got his first big league hit, a two-run homer off reliever Nate Pearson. He played in two more games, including one at Tampa Bay, before being optioned back.
The reports, Britton said, were positive.
“I think at this point, [players] kind of understand that there’s roles to be filled up there,” Britton said. “When they get their opportunity like he did, and he goes out there and plays well, I know the major league staff was really happy with where he’s at.”
For the foreseeable future, Norby will continue to build up reps at the corner outfield positions while top Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday makes most starts at second base.
Norby said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told him he’d done good work, and that the experience was mutually beneficial.
It was also one that, after ample time spent waiting in the wings, Norby will never forget. He couldn’t help but take in the vastness of a major league stadium from the middle of the field.
“That feeling doesn’t get old, either,” Norby said. “Walking out from the clubhouse into the dugout and everything opens up. It doesn’t ever get old. Toronto was unbelievable.
“It was so cool. You can’t replicate that adrenaline. That’s the most adrenaline I’ve ever had, for sure.”
