Once ranked higher than Trubisky, Stewart left football behind

Here's a fun fact about right-handed pitcher Kohl Stewart, who was brought up from the Iowa Cubs to start Monday's game against San Diego.

When he was at Pius X High School in Houston, he was ranked as the No. 15 best quarterback in the Class of 2013 by 247sports.com -- four spots ahead of Mitch Trubisky.

Steward committed to Texas A&M at one point but chose baseball when he was drafted No. 4 overall by the Minnesota Twins.

Asked about being a two-sport star after the game, it sounds like Stewart didn't give much thought to making football his career choice.

"I'm extremely blessed to be where I am," he said. "I grew up playing a lot of baseball. I didn't really play a whole lot of football. I started playing football when I got to high school. I honestly played for a really good team, so they made me look pretty good and I had some really good receivers that ended up playing in college.

"I don't really think about it. I follow A&M because I had lot of friends, and I met some guys on the recruiting trail and stuff. But I don't keep up with it anymore. Football is such a different beast. It's so tough on the body."

Stewart, 26, appeared in 17 games for the Twins in 2018 and '19, including 6 starts. His last major league start was May 11, 2019. He posted a 4-3 record with 4.79 ERA with Minnesota.

Last year, he signed with Baltimore but decided to opt out of the season. According to the Des Moines Register, Stewart is a Type I diabetic and pitches with an insulin pump under his uniform. So rather than risk a poor outcome with COVID-19, Stewart decided to stay home and spend time with his wife and newborn son.

In 4 starts for the Iowa Cubs this season, Stewart was 1-2 with a 3.68 ERA and 0.955 WHIP. When Trevor Williams had an appendectomy early Sunday morning, Stewart literally got the call.

"It's always exciting," he said. "It's just been a long couple years. I was with my wife and son in Des Moines. I was at breakfast, I believe. When the phone rings and I saw it was (Iowa manager) Marty Pevey, I'm like, 'You know, this is probably good news.' Surreal.

"My wife is so even-keeled. She enjoyed the moment, she was really happy. Then she's commanding the room and she's trying to figure out how we're all going to get there and all that stuff. She's such a stabling force for our family, she's amazing."

Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls