Colton Cowser 2023

[Bemorewins]

I can’t say I really care that much about who goes if/when Cowser comes up. It will be somebody who is not good enough right and will get us closer to optimizing or Major League roster, which I admit is my primary concern.

Cowser being the prospect that he is, IMO will not be relegated to a bench role or playing 2/3 times a week.

He as others have said, should man LF moving Hays over to RF and Santander to DH. This gets rid of the black hole that Varva’s ABs having been. I have seen enough to be spared of anymore of the “well he doesn’t get on base or do any damage with the bat in his hand, but he doesn’t swing at balls.” So what, when the pitcher can just defeat you by throwing strikes.

I understand that Cowser like Adley did and like Gunnar and Grayson are doing, will take some time to adjust to this level. But I would rather play the more talented guys and try to win with my best 26.

We no longer need to approach things from a “see what ya got” in this long shot guy/experimental route. We have a team who is ready to win. With a few additions mostly in house, but a big trade to land a top pitcher; I don’t see why we can’t start a series of years of postseason runs.

[wildcard]

40 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I can’t say I really care that much about who goes if/when Cowser comes up. It will be somebody who is not good enough right and will get us closer to optimizing or Major League roster, which I admit is my primary concern.

Cowser being the prospect that he is, IMO will not be relegated to a bench role or playing 2/3 times a week.

He as others have said, should man LF moving Hays over to RF and Santander to DH. This gets rid of the black hole that Varva’s ABs having been. I have seen enough to be spared of anymore of the “well he doesn’t get on base or do any damage with the bat in his hand, but he doesn’t swing at balls.” So what, when the pitcher can just defeat you by throwing strikes.

I understand that Cowser like Adley did and like Gunnar and Grayson are doing, will take some time to adjust to this level. But I would rather play the more talented guys and try to win with my best 26.

We no longer need to approach things from a “see what ya got” in this long shot guy/experimental route. We have a team who is ready to win. With a few additions mostly in house, but a big trade to land a top pitcher; I don’t see why we can’t start a series of years of postseason runs.

Before last night Cowser has a 749 OPS at AAA this season.   That is nothing special.   He has to play well for a while to get a promotion IMO.

[SpOkane]

Wowser!

[Frobby]

25 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Before last night Cowser has a 749 OPS at AAA this season.   That is nothing special.   He has to play well for a while to get a promotion IMO.

He’s been playing well the last 11 games: .442/.520/.767.   He was ice cold the first 7: .100/.229/.100.   I don’t think there’s any serious conversation about promoting Cowser for at least another few weeks, but Cowser’s history generally has been that once he gets over some initial hiccups and gets hot, he stays hot.  Hopefully he’ll follow that pattern again. 

[Just Regular]

Would he have done worse than 3-for-18 or 4-for-22 with no power?   

How is he at catching cans of corn?

 

[RZNJ]

3 hours ago, seak05 said:

If Cowser is called up soon he (hopefully) sends Hays to RF, with occasional starts in CF for Mullins.

Santander becomes mostly a 1b/dh. Vavra sees less playing time, and McKenna is in triple-A

I think you got it, except McKenna stays and Vavra goes.  A RH hitting OF still makes sense to spell Mullins or Cowser once or twice a week.

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Before last night Cowser has a 749 OPS at AAA this season.   That is nothing special.   He has to play well for a while to get a promotion IMO.

What’s your formula?  You advocate Joey Ortiz being promoted but Cowser needs to show more.  Cowser has a .893 OPS and is 1.400 over the last 7 days.  Ortiz is .930 and 1.344 over the last 7 days.   We know that OPS can fluctuate a lot early in the season.   What makes Joey Ortiz ready now but Cowser needs more time in your book?

[Jagwar]

Such an easy swing generating that power. 

[Bemorewins]

I would like to see them both personally. Particularly if Ortiz is the second base prospect that the O's prefer. These guys are part of our future. And as things stand as of now with the Orioles, our future is beginning now!

I would rather get them up to give them time to get acclimated/adjusted to the bigs as it takes almost all young players these days. And that way by the time that the Fall comes they are full adjusted and ready to contribute to a postseason run.

McKenna, Varva, and even Frazier and Urias (to a large degree) are not needle movers. And will most likely have little to no impact on our post season success. Though I guess an argument could be made that Urias could get a charge into one in a big spot like he did last night. But those 4, IMO are holding up spots for the O's possible becoming the best version of themselves, getting their highest ceiling players to be on the field/roster at one time.

[Sanity Check]

Where is everyone who hated him being drafted in the first round??  I have to say I'm liking the approach of drafting the more experienced and tested college hitters based on how quickly some of them are moving up in the system.

[Bemorewins]

25 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

Where is everyone who hated him being drafted in the first round??  I have to say I'm liking the approach of drafting the more experienced and tested college hitters based on how quickly some of them are moving up in the system.

I like the approach as well as long as we can figure out how to keep and who needs to be traded to supplement the Major League staff at the front end. Because right now, we have too many positional prospects doing well and not enough places for them to fit.... Not a bad problem to have though.  

[jdwilde1]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

I think you got it, except McKenna stays and Vavra goes.  A RH hitting OF still makes sense to spell Mullins or Cowser once or twice a week.

Maybe, but they can still use Santander in RF if they want a RH hitting OF.  There is certainly some flexibility.  Either way, Cowser potentially provides a significant talent increase to the roster.

[RZNJ]

Outfielder Colton Cowser went 3-for-3 with two homers and three RBIs. All three of his hits were rocketed off the bat at over 107 mph, resulting in 10 total bases for the night. In his last 12 games, Cowser is batting .408 (20-for-49) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs and nine RBIs, and he now leads the International League with 21 runs scored

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

What’s your formula?  You advocate Joey Ortiz being promoted but Cowser needs to show more.  Cowser has a .893 OPS and is 1.400 over the last 7 days.  Ortiz is .930 and 1.344 over the last 7 days.   We know that OPS can fluctuate a lot early in the season.   What makes Joey Ortiz ready now but Cowser needs more time in your book?

If I were making the argument, I’d say that Ortiz has been successful in AAA longer if you include last year in the equation.  And, he’s more of a plus defender than Cowser.  And, Ortiz is already on the 40-man so we don’t need to kick someone off.  

But I don’t think either one is being called up imminently, so I’m not making the argument.  
 

[Alasdaire]

1 hour ago, Sanity Check said:

Where is everyone who hated him being drafted in the first round??  I have to say I'm liking the approach of drafting the more experienced and tested college hitters based on how quickly some of them are moving up in the system.

Criticism of a pick like Cowser or Kjerstad isn't that the player won't be good, it's that the ceiling is probably lower on a college bat that isn't generational like Adley. Jordan Lawler (2021) and Zac Veen (2020) are were both prep players available to us, and they're both at AA now and look great. Robert Hassell (2020) on a similar trajectory. All younger than Cowser.

Ultimately though, if the front office's comparative advantage is in scouting college position players, then I would rather they do that than make bad projections on prep bats. I just hope they're open to pitchers and prep bats and not limiting their options. Especially going forward when we're not going to have our pick of the best college hitter.