Colton Cowser 2024

[Gofannon]

3 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

100% Kevin Brown was waiting to use that one. Great call by the way. Sometimes, even on his over excitement at times, Brown get it right on the mark and that was one of them.

Kevin Brown wrote that one in January, but it was right on time last night.

[deward]

Just now, dystopia said:

What would you do? Sit Cowser? Come on. 

Obviously not while he's this hot, but once he cools off a bit, I'd expect to start seeing Hays more often. They're going to give Hays more opportunities to get going.

[ArtVanDelay]

1 minute ago, Gofannon said:

Tonight we face DL Hall, a lefty.

It’s Freddy Peralta.  Milwaukee got rained out yesterday so Peralta is pitching tonight. 

[ArtVanDelay]

2 minutes ago, deward said:

Obviously not while he's this hot, but once he cools off a bit, I'd expect to start seeing Hays more often. They're going to give Hays more opportunities to get going.

I disagree.  Cowser is going to cool off at some point.  You let him work through it instead of putting him back on the bench.  As Tony said, Cowser is the starting LF for the Orioles. 

[Mooreisbetter27]

5 minutes ago, Gofannon said:

Tonight we face DL Hall, a lefty.

Hall is tomorrow.

 

Edit: Ninja'ed by George Costanza

Edited April 12 by Mooreisbetter27

[casadeozo]

10 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

It hasn't been two weeks. It's been since June 21st of last season. See my post above.

If it were only two weeks and bad spring, I'd say yes, it's probably too early, but it's been much longer.

I totally get it and agree. 

my point was more Hyde has showed a maddening bias toward veteran bats (just look at Stowers when he was here).

I don’t think we can count on Hays being a bench bat going forward just yet. 

[deward]

6 minutes ago, nvpacchi said:

Most noteworthy may be that Cowser torched his HR at 113.8 MPH.  The hardest hit ball he had last year in AAA was 110.3.

If he's really a plus raw power guy and found a new gear to tap into it in games, it reaffirms even more holding onto him.

He's definitely got plus raw power, we just have to see if he can tap into it regularly without sacrificing his contact rate. 

[ChuckS]

7 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I think Hays is now the new McKenna. He's the 4th outfielder who will fill in for each guy against lefties and late in games against lefties. 

If he can get his bat going, he'll be really good in that role. He's a much better bat sitting on the bench than McKenna IF, and this is a big IF because we don't know this yet. If he's  able to hit when only starting 1-2 a week? Not every player is able to be effective in that role.

You don't envision a possible scenario where Hays, Mullins, and Santander are getting an equal amount of rest?

I would think you could play Cowser or Hays in center twice a week with Mullins sitting.  If Santander sits once a week and DH's 1-2 times a week, you can still have a split where every outfielder plays 4-6 times a week. 

This would make the most sense to me unless the FO is just completely down on Hays.  Looking at a larger sample size over the last few seasons, Hays, Mullins, and Santander have been relatively equal players.  Hays is not the only outfielder capable of going through extended cold spells. Mullins tends to fall into the same kind of slumps. 

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, deward said:

He's definitely got plus raw power, we just have to see if he can tap into it regularly without sacrificing his contact rate. 

He’s been tapping into his raw power at the expense of contact for quite awhile.  This is nothing different than he was doing in the minors.  17 homers and 18 doubles in 87 AAA games last year.   
 

 

[Oriole1940]

I think Cowser is easy  to root for.  He looks like a baseball player and he sure is one.  A new favorite.

[Three Run Homer]

I think Cowser should be a (mostly) every day player, but Hays still has a role on the team.  He plays good defense, can play all three outfield positions, runs well and hits right handed.  He is struggling now but he is a much better hitter than Ryan McKenna.  So he is a deluxe fourth outfielder who should start against lefties and occasionally against righties,  with his starts spread out among LF, CF and RF to keep everyone fresh.  He can also step back into the starting lineup if anyone gets hurt.  

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, casadeozo said:

I totally get it and agree. 

my point was more Hyde has showed a maddening bias toward veteran bats (just look at Stowers when he was here).

I don’t think we can count on Hays being a bench bat going forward just yet. 

Cowser is now starting over Hays against right-handers. Hays is not hurt. Cowser is now the starting left fielder. 

Will Hays get his PAs, sure, because now he can back up all three outfielders when they need a break. He's a better player overall than McKenna so I expect him to get more PAs than McKenna got. 

Hays is not going to be buried, but I do think barring a collapse, Cowser is now the Orioles starting Left Fielder and Hays is the 4th outfielder, a role he'll be very good at if he can hit in more of a part-time role. 

 

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

You don't envision a possible scenario where Hays, Mullins, and Santander are getting an equal amount of rest?

I would think you could play Cowser or Hays in center twice a week with Mullins sitting.  If Santander sits once a week and DH's 1-2 times a week, you can still have a split where every outfielder plays 4-6 times a week. 

This would make the most sense to me unless the FO is just completely down on Hays.  Looking at a larger sample size over the last few seasons, Hays, Mullins, and Santander have been relatively equal players.  Hays is not the only outfielder capable of going through extended cold spells. Mullins tends to fall into the same kind of slumps. 

They have done this so far so I don't think Hays has shown enough bat to garner that kind of playing time over Mullins and Santander. Saying that, I do think he will certainly spell all three outfielders and very well could work himself into a 3-4 times a week player later in the season when guys need more time off in the heat.

[spleen1015]

If you truly use Hays as a 4th OF, he's probably starting 2-4 games a week depending on SP matchups. Just depends on how much you want to rest Mullins and Santander.

I do think there's no reason to see O'Hearn in the OF any more.

[Bemorewins]

42 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

I wonder what the market for someone like Hays will be. Santander I can see commanding real money, even if its on a 1-year deal.

If Hays really does fill the McKenna role and actually ends up embracing it, is there any way we'd look to bring him back on a short term, low cost deal if his market didn't materialize? I don't think we'd ever tender him a contract at Arb 3 for that role, but I don't know what he'd command in FA either. I really do like what he offers in that RH OF spot where we don't have a clear-cut prospect knocking on the door yet.

With that said if someone offers him a starting job opportunity/salary, I'm sure he'd take it, and I'm guessing at least one team out there would.

Santander will get a real 3/4 year contract (from someone else) in the offseason. As much as I like him, with all the bats will have ready in AAA, it just doesn’t make any financial sense to resign him.

Hays is fine as a 4th outfielder for the rest of the season. And probably after this year (depending on his performance) we either trade or non-tender him.

I see 2 spots opening up for next year (Santander and O’Hearn) for (Kerjstad and Mayo). We will also have to figure out a place for Basallo sometime next year as well. 

The year after that we will most likely replace Mullins with Bradfield Jr.