Bowie Product Hoes is Back with the Baysox

Bowie's L.J. Hoes is back with the Baysox, the Class AA team of the Baltimore Orioles. But this time the minor league player hopes to stay longer with the Eastern League team that plays home games at Prince George's Stadium.

Hoes was promoted from Class A Frederick of the Carolina League following his home game with the Keys on Sunday afternoon. He drove back to his home and then Monday morning left on the team bus with the Baysox for Altoona, PA, where he played right field for the Baysox on Monday and Tuesday.

"I found out after we got done Sunday. They called me into the office," Hoes told Patch on Tuesday night from a hotel in Altoona, PA. The Baysox were slated to play day games in Altoona on Wednesday and Thursday before heading to Harrisburg, PA for a weekend series.

Hoes got the good news Sunday from Frederick manager Orlando Gomez and Tripp Norton, the assistant director of player development for the Orioles. "I packed myself up and drove back. I called my parents, sister and girlfriend," Hoes said.

It was an easy move for Hoes since he had been commuting from his home in Bowie to Frederick.

He had three hits in four at bats for Bowie on Tuesday night in a. He had four hits in his first eight at bats with the Baysox after he hit .241 with three homers and 17 RBIs in 158 at bats with Frederick.

Last year Hoes, 21, played in just three games for the Baysox when another player had to leave the team to deal with visa issues. This season Hoes, who played at St. John's in high school, hopes to stay around much longer with Bowie. He began this season as the No. 4 prospect in the Baltimore farm system, according to industry leader Baseball America.

A new team is not the only change for Hoes, who has been playing mostly second base since he signed with the Orioles in 2008. He has seen time in the outfield for Frederick this year and he said that he is expected to play more outfield now that he is with Bowie.

"They just told me I was going to go up and play second base and play a lot more outfield than I have been playing," Hoes said. Kyle Hudson, an outfielder, was promoted from Bowie to Class AAA Norfolk on Friday, May 20. The same day outfielder Nolan Reimold was promoted from Norfolk to the Orioles.

Hoes has not played the outfield regularly since high school. When he was drafted in the third round by the Orioles, and turned down a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, Baltimore decided to turn him into a second baseman.

"It has not been that big of an adjustment. The ball carries a lot more and gets on top of you a lot more," he said of playing the outfield in the minors. "You have to make betters reads (of the ball) off the bat."

Is Hoes concerned about possible distractions about playing close to home on a regular basis?

"I am going to do it the way I have been doing it. I will leave tickets for friends. It really does not matter," said Hoes, who added that the most stressful time of his pro career was deciding whether to attend UNC or sign with the Orioles. "I will be fine."

Hoes, who grew up in Mitchellville, was drafted in the third round by the Orioles in 2008. Last year he spent most of the season at Frederick, where he hit .278 in 353 at bats. Hoes was hitting second or third in the Frederick lineup this year but he hit in the No. 7 hole for Bowie on Monday and Tuesday.

Last year Hoes played in eight games for Aberdeen under manager Gary Kendall, who is now the skipper of the Baysox. Gomez, his manager at Frederick, was once the minor league manager of Pudge Rodriguez, a catcher for the Washington Nationals and a likely Hall of Famer.

Hoes has worked out in the off-season in Georgia with , the Baysox center fielder. They have worked out in the winter with Jason Heyward, an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves. Last fall Hoes was one of several Oriole prospects invited to off-season workouts at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

The Baysox are on a road trip and return home Tuesday, May 31 to begin a series with Richmond. That will be the first game in which Hoes will be in uniform as a pro player at Prince George's Stadium. He played there when he was in high school but last season during his short stint with the Baysox the team was on the road.

"I will have a lot of family at the game Tuesday," said Hoes, the son of Gail and Jerome Hoes. It should be a joyous homecoming. His parents still live in the area and Hoes, who attended games at Camden Yards when he was young, has his own place just a few minutes from Prince George's Stadium.

His mother battled cancer and his father, who played football at Fairmont State in West Virginia and then took part in NFL training camp with Atlanta, had a stroke which forced Hoes to miss some time during the 2009 minor league season. He said Tuesday that his parents are doing better. Last season he missed about six weeks of the season when he had mononucleosis.

Now Hoes is healthy and back with the Baysox. "I know how to handle it. You have to deal with different situations that may come up. This is my job. I have to be able to take advantage of playing at the Double A level," he said.