Can someone tell me what Cowser needs to do better?

[AnythingO's]

Heston laughs at the speculation that these MLB pitchers can handle him and that he will need ANY adjustment period, the man is on a mission lol. HAHAHA, JK, one drink too many, huge HK fan.

Seriously, I hope to see him in Sept, I truly believe his bat is special

[SemperFi]

4 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

I was a SS, then a CF. I am not saying that a CF does not have to be a good OF, or that it is easier in every way. You obviously need a very good athlete. There is a lot to do out there, sure. The CF should be your best and rangiest OF. But most skilled? I am not sure we agree there.

The COF’s back up a lot of throws to bases as well. I was specifically referring to the balls off the walls, corners and the slicing and hooking of line drives. It takes a good bit of work to become a skilled COF and play the corners intelligently. I’ve heard the same commentary many times over the years. For instance, when very athletic MIF’s switch to OF the thought is it is easier to transition to CF than a corner. You bring up some valid points, but it has been my experience coaching older kids that COF is a bit more difficult to master. 

Well to master....

I can vividly remember Josh Hamilton in BP repeatedly fielding caroms of the RF wall and throwing to third (each carom is different is why) or Dwight Evans.  You too have nice points and I will admit my bias-I played in a different era on symetrical fields.  Enjoy coaching, it took a toll on my body towards the end, have a kid that made the majors last year-that was special!!

[Jammer7]

1 hour ago, SemperFi said:

Well to master....

I can vividly remember Josh Hamilton in BP repeatedly fielding caroms of the RF wall and throwing to third (each carom is different is why) or Dwight Evans.  You too have nice points and I will admit my bias-I played in a different era on symetrical fields.  Enjoy coaching, it took a toll on my body towards the end, have a kid that made the majors last year-that was special!!

Awesome! I’ve had some D1 kids, some in minors. But they got there on their own, in spite of my meddling.

[SemperFi]

7 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

Awesome! I’ve had some D1 kids, some in minors. But they got there on their own, in spite of my meddling.

Me too, I like to think I helped on the character side maybe?  I had them at the end of traveling maybe 13-14, Max Meyer of the Marlins is the kid in the majors, he's close to my son.  Unless they have a truly elite bat/arm most kids will go as far as their glove takes them.  Good luck coaching, I miss it.

[Jammer7]

26 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

Me too, I like to think I helped on the character side maybe?  I had them at the end of traveling maybe 13-14, Max Meyer of the Marlins is the kid in the majors, he's close to my son.  Unless they have a truly elite bat/arm most kids will go as far as their glove takes them.  Good luck coaching, I miss it.

Absolutely all about the character. Dealing with failure and expectations is so tough for some of them. I keep trying to step away, as I tend to run myself into the ground now in my mid 50’s. I have to slow down. Coaching my third and youngest now. Just finished 12U with a trip to Cooperstown. A great trip! Onto the big field for my little lefty. I think I have it so I can step away after 17 years. I have tried before, and I missed it terribly. 

[LookinUp]

16 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

He has nothing left to prove in the minors. 

If Cowser goes back to AAA, it's not because he has to prove anything. It's because he needs to work on something. Like Bradish last year. Rodriguez this year. No reason a hitter can't do that too.

[Sports Guy]

Just now, LookinUp said:

If Cowser goes back to AAA, it's not because he has to prove anything. It's because he needs to work on something. Like Bradish last year. Rodriguez this year. No reason a hitter can't do that too.

If he goes back it’s because he’s still slumping and they have guys playing better and need the roster spot.

As far as what he has to work on, I don’t know how that’s going to be accomplished in a league that he has done exceptional at and a league where offense is way up.

GRod had actual mechanical and command things to work on, that would have been worked on had he not been pushed into coming up as early as he did.  
 

GRod also never mastered AAA over a sample size similar to what Cowser had done.

And GRod missed a big chunk of last year and with an innings limit this year(in all likelihood),  sending him down allowed them to control his innings some.

Cowser May go back down and they will say he’s working on X but the reality is that he can do that up here.

Yesterday on BBTN, Mendoza was showing Gunnar’s swing/stance from earlier this year to now. She was showing how his shoulders are more upright and square now Vs having a big of a tilt earlier in the season.

Thats a mechanical adjustment they made for him during the season. 
 

Development doesn’t end when you come to the majors.

[LookinUp]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

If he goes back it’s because he’s still slumping and they have guys playing better and need the roster spot.

...

Development doesn’t end when you come to the majors.

All true, but development can continue in the minors even if you've "mastered" a level, particularly if the next level exposed a flaw that wasn't apparent while you were beating up on non major leaguers.

Could he push through that in Baltimore? Sure. Do I hope he does? Yes. But there's more than one way to skin this cat and it has nothing to do with "proving" himself in AAA. The O's thinking is much more sophisticated that that at this point.

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

All true, but development can continue in the minors even if you've "mastered" a level, particularly if the next level exposed a flaw that wasn't apparent while you were beating up on non major leaguers.

Could he push through that in Baltimore? Sure. Do I hope he does? Yes. But there's more than one way to skin this cat and it has nothing to do with "proving" himself in AAA. The O's thinking is much more sophisticated that that at this point.

Sure he can go down and maybe fix something but let’s not pretend he has to do that in AAA. 
 

As I said, if he is sent down, it’s because better options have come here. Let’s not forget, he has a very low BABiP and while he has looked bad a lot, he has also been unlucky. His line could read a lot different with some luck.

[LookinUp]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Sure he can go down and maybe fix something but let’s not pretend he has to do that in AAA. 
 

As I said, if he is sent down, it’s because better options have come here. Let’s not forget, he has a very low BABiP and while he has looked bad a lot, he has also been unlucky. His line could read a lot different with some luck.

Well, you said he had nothing left to prove. That's what I was responding to. Proving something isn't the point.

But it doesn't matter. We're basically in agreement. I think he should stick it out in the majors and work through it. I just don't think it's a big deal if Elias has a different plan, mostly because I'd trust that his plan is an informed method of helping this team, and probably Cowser too, rather than an emotional reaction to his initial ML struggles.