Colton Cowser 2024

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Hallas said:

So, "feet covered" is a little misleading, because not all plays have the same baseline average.  (e.g. going left or right is probably easier than going back.)  Feet vs average adjusts for for this, and they're pretty similar, with Cowser actually slightly ahead of Mullins.

 

In general I really didn't think Cowser could play CF based on what we saw last year, and Cowser's doing a good job of making me look like an idiot there.

He just didn’t play defense very well during last year’s call-up.  It was aberrational, because he was a good defender in the minors.  Maybe just adjusting to seeing the ball well in the bigger stadiums with upper decks etc.

I’m very impressed with his ability to move to any of the three OF spots from one game to the next, or even within games, and play well.  

[banks703]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He just didn’t play defense very well during last year’s call-up.  It was aberrational, because he was a good defender in the minors.  Maybe just adjusting to seeing the ball well in the bigger stadiums with upper decks etc.

I’m very impressed with his ability to move to any of the three OF spots from one game to the next, or even within games, and play well.  

Adjusting to the bigger parks with the third deck was my argument after his 23 performance. I maintain that he can play well enough defensively in center to hold down the spot for a while (perhaps until EBJ or another prospect breaks into the league) but ultimately he is probably best suited in RF.

I see a lot of Charlie Blackmon in CC’s game.

 

[Sports Guy]

He has a .095 BABIP over the last 10 games.

[interloper]

Cowser killed a couple of balls yesterday. He's fine. 

[luismatos4prez]

I love Cedric, but he has a 64 wRC+ and -0.1 fWAR over the last 365 days. It's time for Colton Cowser to be the everyday CF for this team.

We'll take a hit defensively, but it frees up the COF spots for Kjerstad / Stowers / Mayo / Santander / whoever is hitting. We can be a good but not great defensive team that absolutely mashes.

[Filmstudy]

Regarding Cowser's current slump:

1. The low BABIP is good thing given he's hit some balls hard.  Positive portent although not enough in and of itself.

2. He needs to do 2 things to take a big step forward as a hitter.  The first is identifying and laying off the breaking ball out of the pitcher's hand.  His whiff and chase rates both need to be lower on those pitches, but in many cases, he's better off just taking a breaking pitch (particularly early in the count) than grounding out.  The second is going back to what worked in that Red Sox series that vaulted him into a starting role...go to left field regularly.  Mounty is the best example of another Oriole who seems to get back in his rhythm when he goes to the opposite field.

I do think we're getting closer (as a matter of sheer volume) to the point where Cowser will be able to identify and lay off more off-speed pitches.  When he can do so, his ability to hit the fastball should also come back strong.

[ShoelesJoe]

14 hours ago, interloper said:

Cowser killed a couple of balls yesterday. He's fine. 

Never seen a guy hit so many 100+ MPH grounders. If Cowser could elevate the ball more he'd be a 30 HR middle of the order mainstay. 

[ChosenOne21]

10 hours ago, luismatos4prez said:

I love Cedric, but he has a 64 wRC+ and -0.1 fWAR over the last 365 days. It's time for Colton Cowser to be the everyday CF for this team.

We'll take a hit defensively, but it frees up the COF spots for Kjerstad / Stowers / Mayo / Santander / whoever is hitting. We can be a good but not great defensive team that absolutely mashes.

I have to agree. And I'm not sure it'd be as much of a hit as I originally thought. Cedric is clearly better on defense, but I think Cowser can hold it down until (hopefully) Bradfield Jr. is ready.

[Frobby]

6 hours ago, ShoelesJoe said:

Never seen a guy hit so many 100+ MPH grounders. If Cowser could elevate the ball more he'd be a 30 HR middle of the order mainstay. 

Actually, Cowser’s GB/FB ratio is .70, slightly below the league average of .72 and well below Henderson (.87), Mountcastle (.85), and O’Hearn (.81).  

What I’m seeing from Cowser is a lot of well hit balls to deep LCF that have just a little too much launch angle to go out or fall in.  Adley used to do that a ton last year as a LHB.

[interloper]

I like Cowser a lot, but he's 25 and doesn't know where to throw the ball. How does that happen after so many years of playing baseball? He's got to clean it up, as Jones would say.

[Sports Guy]

46 minutes ago, interloper said:

I like Cowser a lot, but he's 25 and doesn't know where to throw the ball. How does that happen after so many years of playing baseball? He's got to clean it up, as Jones would say.

Do you say this about Adley too?

[spleen1015]

Gunnar has had some pretty crappy relay throws to home lately, too.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Do you say this about Adley too?

With Adley it's just about arm strength, and yeah I dislike his arm quite a bit. But with Cowser he's just been throwing to the wrong person on the field. It's a situation awareness/baseball IQ thing. He'll get better, but it's annoying.

Edited May 31 by interloper

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

With Adley it's just about arm strength, and yeah I dislike his arm quite a bit. But with Cowser he's just been throwing to the wrong person on the field. It's a situation awareness/baseball IQ thing. He'll get better, but it's annoying.

First of all, it’s not just about arm strength with Adley.  His accuracy is awful.

Secondly, you are completely wrong about Cowser imo. Yes, he has made some errors in judgment w/r/t throwing but I’m guessing some of that has to do with him thinking he can actually throw someone out because the arm is that strong..in other words, he’s being cocky, overconfident or whatever word you want to use.

 

[interloper]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

First of all, it’s not just about arm strength with Adley.  His accuracy is awful.

Secondly, you are completely wrong about Cowser imo. Yes, he has made some errors in judgment w/r/t throwing but I’m guessing some of that has to do with him thinking he can actually throw someone out because the arm is that strong..in other words, he’s being cocky, overconfident or whatever word you want to use.

 

Ok I mean I agree with all that. I think you're trying to create a debate with me when we basically agree but have used slightly different ways to get there.