Hicks activated, Cowser optioned

[Billy F-Face3]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

This decision…or should I say, the decision to keep Hicks at all, who isn’t good.

Hicks has a .784 OPS this season during his time in an Orioles uniform. Cowser has .434 OPS facing Major League Pitchers.

Numbers don't lie.

[deward]

His two week long dead-cat bounce right after he signed aside, Hicks is mostly washed and has no future with this org. He brings some veteranosity, I guess, which Elias seems to value, but I wouldn't have much faith in him in any big moment at the plate in the playoffs. That said, Cowser didn't force anyone's hand here, which is unfortunate. We'll see what happens if O'Hearn continues to slide back into the pit of mediocrity from whence he came.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Hicks has a .784 OPS this season during his time in an Orioles uniform. Cowser has .434 OPS facing Major League Pitchers.

Numbers don't lie.

He has a 601 OPs in his last 89 PA. Since that initial time coming up, he has been terrible, both with the glove and the bat.

[eddie83]

6 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Lol..yea I’m sure. They have known the guy for a few months and he has been out for part of that time.

Meanwhile, Cowser is part of a group of very close friends who have been close for multiple years and is already a big part of the clubhouse.

But yea, I’m sure they would be far more upset about Hicks. Hell, we better hope this whole thing doesn’t fall apart because they DFA’ed Givens.

He played well right after Mullins went down. Just celebrated his 10 year service time mark. Seems to be respected. Cowser is a phone call away from a return. 
 

Givens was hardly around the team and made no impact. 

Let’s release a player for 4th OF spot when we have no idea what possible injuries could occur rest of way. 

[LA2]

1 hour ago, MurphDogg said:

I knew this was going to be the move, but it is still frustrating. Over his last 80 plate appearances, Hicks has a line of .203/.300/.304 and unlike with Cowser's similarly poor MLB line, I have two plus years of data with Hicks that suggest it isn't going to get much better.

Hopefully Cowser takes advantage of playing every day at Norfolk and gets back into a groove over the next couple weeks.

I don't understand bringing Hicks back at this point. I can't really see him making the playoff roster as he doesn't have a single elite skill at this point in his career. I would certainly rather have Kjerstad and McKenna on the playoff roster over Hicks. Can probably carry Ortiz as well, since you don't need close to a full 13-man pitching staff, given all the off days.

Having seen Stowers' and Cowser's performances this year--and Henderson's first month this year and Adley's last year, I don't see how we can be so confident that Kjerstad will play well in a late-season call-up, much less deserve a spot on the playoff roster.

 

[maybenxtyr]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

Bruh. Stop quoting Mr. Splash!

Or Adleys Pecks...or Rambo something another...and a few more names that I'm forgetting.

[Aglets]

Gunnar Henderson call up day was Aug 31 last year.  I think we might see some new faces on or around that day in 2023.

[DirtyBird]

People seem to forget that Aaron Hicks almost single handedly prevented the team from going on a tailspin in late June/ early July

[LA2]

.144 / .217 / .249 / .466

.115 / .286 / .148 / .433

One is for Brett Phillips in 2022 and the other for Colton Cowser this year. I'd rather have Phillips.

[eddie83]

Why people want to release players who are playing bench roles is beyond me. The guys at AAA are still options. Why a GM would to lose options so a prospect who will be playing everyday at AAA can be a role player at the big leagues I just don’t get. 

[Hank Scorpio]

24 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

What stat said he was unlucky?

I do remember that he had what seemed to be a very lucky double. 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/colton-cowser/29591/stats?position=OF

Batting avg of balls in play (BABIP) .175 - meaning when he puts the ball in play, it's only a hit 17.5% of the time. 

That's low. 

That said, his K percentage was up near 29% and he was a bit too passive at the plate IMO. He'll be fine with consistent at bats, as Henderson was. It really boils down to who they think provides more over the last 6 weeks and they obviously think the answer to that question is Hicks. 

We'll see. He wasn't exactly trending well 2-3 weeks prior to his IL stint.

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

He played well right after Mullins went down. Just celebrated his 10 year service time mark. Seems to be respected. Cowser is a phone call away from a return. 
 

Givens was hardly around the team and made no impact. 

Let’s release a player for 4th OF spot when we have no idea what possible injuries could occur rest of way. 

We have Cowser, McKenna and Kjerstad to cover the OF in addition to all the ML options we have. 

Somehow the team was able to get by with Hicks not here.

The clubhouse wouldn’t bat an eye if they cut him.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, eddie83 said:

Why people want to release players who are playing bench roles is beyond me. The guys at AAA are still options. Why a GM would to lose options so a prospect who will be playing everyday at AAA can be a role player at the big leagues I just don’t get. 

The prospect should be playing everyday (or most days) here. 

[OriolesMagic83]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

Bruh. Stop quoting Mr. Splash!

We finally found Mr Splash's main account.  

[eddie83]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

We have Cowser, McKenna and Kjerstad to cover the OF in addition to all the ML options we have. 

Somehow the team was able to get by with Hicks not here.

The clubhouse wouldn’t bat an eye if they cut him.

Hicks helped the team out in a time of need this year. He isn’t going to be playing everyday. 
 

Somehow the team was able to keep winning when Cowser struggled.