Colton Cowser 2024

[Sports Guy]

46 minutes ago, Pickles said:

 

The results were great; the process decidedly less so.

It's as simple as that.

I think if this how you stated things to begin with, no one would be complaining.

I think you are correct here. I wouldn’t be so definitive about it (ie wouldn’t use “decidedly”) but the result was better than the process. I think that’s definitely true and not sure how that can be argued against.

[Pickles]

31 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Let's watch him dig his heels in even more because he can't admit that he's wrong.

 

What am I wrong about?  Be specific.

The only thing I've been "wrong" about is a silly semantic point.

[Pickles]

35 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

It’s not simple.  If you think your job is to hit the ball to RF do you just keep taking outside pitches for strikes or try to take an offspeed pitch and pull it.  Maybe that’s what happened.  Maybe not.  One thing I’m sure of is that everything you have said in this thread isn’t nearly as simple as you make it out to be.

Right, but I'd be criticizing him if he'd swung at the first pitch he thought he could weakly ground to 2b to get the runner over.  That's not good desicion making either, at least not in that game situation.

[Pickles]

10 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I'm sure the Orioles have given him feedback on his swing decision, good or bad.   I do suspect he was trying to hit that ball down the left field line, as he did on his subsequent single.   And that's a reasonable thing to do when the 3B is essentially playing in the SS spot.

I think we need to remember that a pitch reaches home plate in 0.4 seconds.   The speed, spin, break and location all can vary.   It's not like the batter has all day to make his swing decision and execute a swing.  It's amazing to me that they can do it at all.   

Hitting is extraordinarily difficult.  That's beyond dispute.

[Pickles]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I think if this how you stated things to begin with, no one would be complaining.

I think you are correct here. I wouldn’t be so definitive about it (ie wouldn’t use “decidedly”) but the result was better than the process. I think that’s definitely true and not sure how that can be argued against.

Again, if people want to dispute the semantics, ok, whatever.  

[Sports Guy]

39 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

 

Agree. Perfect fit for a bench player on this team at least top 5 hit tool in the organization and RH bat on roster with a lot of lefties.

And there is no height requirement to DH.

Yep.  And a guy you feel confident in if an injury occurs and he has to play a lot.

Great guy to have.  I would still trade him in the right deal but I think the thought that there is no room for him here is wrong. It’s just that he won’t be an everyday player here.

Now, is his (and Stowers) trade value higher than the value they give us as a part time player?  Maybe.  If so, trade them.  Otherwise, we can definitely use them. 

[BRobinsonfan]

56 minutes ago, Pickles said:

If he had hit the ball hard and at someone, I'd have been fine with it.  Remember, I'm the one arguing process here, not results.

 

This is a bit like arguing how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.  

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Pickles said:

Again, if people want to dispute the semantics, ok, whatever.  

But it’s more than semantics I think. 
 

It’s being over the top. I think under the drama, you are saying things that are correct and like I said, had you just said results were better than the process, I don’t think anyone is really jumping on you.

But you went too far with it, so that’s the reaction you get.

Basically, you are Angel Reese crying at the podium after telling everyone to F off.

[Moose Milligan]

4 minutes ago, Pickles said:

What am I wrong about?  Be specific.

The only thing I've been "wrong" about is a silly semantic point.

 

2 hours ago, Pickles said:

I'm saying if he couldn't hit it better than that, yeah, he shouldn't have swung.

He should have been looking for a pitch he could 1) Hit hard and 2) Hit to the right side of the field.  In that order.

Instead, he swings at a breaking ball, low and away, that's a borderline strike, and hits a weak ground ball.

Bad decision.  

If he doesn't swing, it's at worst 1-1 and he still has a chance to do 1 and/or 2 above.  Perhaps he gets the call and it's 2-0, and then he's in a better position to do either 1 or 2.

Acting like it's so simple is hilarious and absurdly wrong.  If you're this upset about this at bat and this decision, you must be outraged at every game you watch.  

 

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

 

Basically, you are Angel Reese crying at the podium after telling everyone to F off.

Man that's a low blow 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Again, if people want to dispute the semantics, ok, whatever.  

 

 

[Pickles]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

 

Acting like it's so simple is hilarious and absurdly wrong.  If you're this upset about this at bat and this decision, you must be outraged at every game you watch.  

 

Who said I was upset?

I made a fairly milquetoast original post and had 5 people take great offense that I used the word "atrocious" instead of "poor" or "less than ideal."

[Pickles]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

But it’s more than semantics I think. 
 

It’s being over the top. I think under the drama, you are saying things that are correct and like I said, had you just said results were better than the process, I don’t think anyone is really jumping on you.

But you went too far with it, so that’s the reaction you get.

Basically, you are Angel Reese crying at the podium after telling everyone to F off.

Again, I'm not the one who is "upset" or "crying."

I'm defending my original position, quite well, thank you very much.

I shouldn't have used the word "atrocious."  Other than that, you basically agree with me.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

They don’t post in the GameCast, which is frustrating.   To find a play, you have to go to the player page, choose fielding, scroll down to the chart that shows hang time and distance, and then hover over the dot that represents the play you’re looking for.   It’s a pain in the butt and becomes more difficult as the season goes along and more plays are populating the chart so it’s hard to find what you’re looking for.  I wrote to @tangotigerlast year to see if they could just give a link in the GameCast.  He seemed to say it would be pretty easy for them to do this but they chose not to because some people misinterpret the data.  I didn’t really understand his answer, to be honest.  If he sees this, maybe he’ll elaborate.  

As to the O’Hearn play, for some reason it’s not represented on his chart.   It wasn’t as easy a play as some suggested, IMO.

 

I went and reminded myself of what Tom Tango said.  He referred me to this Tweet (and the one embedded within it).

 

[Just Regular]

Right on time this afternoon, Eric Longenhagen at Fangraphs has updates on 2024 AL rookies in the major leagues.    His overall conclusion is everyday play will be too heavy a lift, and he's projecting him as a LF/RF platoon guy.    O'Hearn hit like Lowenstein in 2023, but Brother Lo and Cowser can actually defend the outfield.

Cracks in the lineup get wider for Norby anytime a lefty OF doesn't pan out as a 600 PA guy.

Some of the write-up:

He doesn't track pitches to the contact point, his head tends to fly out early, and this leads Cowser to swing over the top of lots of soft stuff that finishes in the lower half of strike zone. He ran a 70% contact rate and 80% in-zone contact rate in 2023, both of which are below the big league outfield average.