Colton Cowser 2024

[Pickles]

Just now, RZNJ said:

So, bad result means bad swing decision?   The ball was a strike, bottom of the zone outer half.   So, you’re saying he should have taken it for strike one, right?

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.

[RZNJ]

1 minute 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.

If he had hit the ball hard down the LF line would you have had a problem with it?   It seems that would have met your criteria.   Or does it have to be to the right side too?

[Bemorewins]

53 minutes ago, Rbiggs2525 said:

Didn’t know which thread to post this in but I firmly believe our best roster end of 2024 has Jackson Holliday in CF. 
 

1. Holliday CF

2. Henderson SS

3 Rutchman C

4 Santander RF

5 Mountcastle 1B

6 Ohearn/Kjerstad DH

7 Mayo 3B

8 Cowser LF

9 Westburg 2B

I understand and respect the appeal that some fans have to see all of our prospects here, as many of them have tremendous potential.

The problem with this lineup is likely to be serious defensive deficiency. Is Mayo a good defensive 3B? I don't know. He seems to be having some struggles at AAA. 

And as much as I LOVE Holliday as a prospect, he is NOT a CF. He has never played CF before in his life. Asking him to replace Cedric Mullins (a borderline GG/elite defensive CF) is asking for trouble.

Also, why should Holliday (your most talented prospect at this point) be moved all over the place (first to 2B now to CF) to accommodate lesser talented players? It's one thing to move him to 2B because of Gunnar's placement at 2B. It's another thing when you asking him to move to CF so Westberg can stay at 2B and/or Mayo can stay at 3B.

It would seem that wisdom would suggest that we try to make his transition and success in the big leagues as easy/smooth as possible, not continuing to place one roadblock after another to success in front of him.

[MikeAD]

2 hours ago, DirtyBird said:

Thus far, it doesn't appear that Westburg is part of a 4 IF rotation. He has started all 5 games - Urias (3), Mateo (2), Kemp (1)

Yes he even got a start at DH.  Westburg is an everyday player on this team.  

[Moose Milligan]

[Pickles]

11 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

If he had hit the ball hard down the LF line would you have had a problem with it?   It seems that would have met your criteria.   Or does it have to be to the right side too?

What's difficult to understand?

They are specifically taught to not swing at balls they cannot drive until they get down in the count.  This often involves hunting pitches, particularly fastballs.

He instead swings at a breaking ball, which is a borderline strike, low and away, when he's up in the count.

Yes, if he hits it 450 feet, you say, "Great job."  Here's the thing though: He swung at a low and away borderline breaking ball.  That drastically reduces his abiltity to hit it 450 feet.

He instead did what happens a lot when you swing at low and away borderline breaking balls: He hit a weak ground ball to the other side.

I assure you this is the exact conversation they have with these guys.  

"What's your thoughts process on that swing, Colton?"

"That's probably not a pitch you want to swing at in that game situation."

[RZNJ]

7 minutes ago, Pickles said:

What's difficult to understand?

They are specifically taught to not swing at balls they cannot drive until they get down in the count.  This often involves hunting pitches, particularly fastballs.

He instead swings at a breaking ball, which is a borderline strike, low and away, when he's up in the count.

Yes, if he hits it 450 feet, you say, "Great job."  Here's the thing though: He swung at a low and away borderline breaking ball.  That drastically reduces his abiltity to hit it 450 feet.

He instead did what happens a lot when you swing at low and away borderline breaking balls: He hit a weak ground ball to the other side.

I assure you this is the exact conversation they have with these guys.  

"What's your thoughts process on that swing, Colton?"

"That's probably not a pitch you want to swing at in that game situation."

Cowser was too passive last year waiting for that pitch.  This year he’s doing exactly what they wanted him to do.  Attack strikes early.   
 

Please, no more of your assurances.

 

Henderson and Cowser have found that what works against minor league pitching needs to be adjusted against ML pitching.  I can assure you of that.

Edited April 3 by RZNJ

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Pickles said:

What's difficult to understand?

They are specifically taught to not swing at balls they cannot drive until they get down in the count.  This often involves hunting pitches, particularly fastballs.

He instead swings at a breaking ball, which is a borderline strike, low and away, when he's up in the count.

Yes, if he hits it 450 feet, you say, "Great job."  Here's the thing though: He swung at a low and away borderline breaking ball.  That drastically reduces his abiltity to hit it 450 feet.

He instead did what happens a lot when you swing at low and away borderline breaking balls: He hit a weak ground ball to the other side.

I assure you this is the exact conversation they have with these guys.  

"What's your thoughts process on that swing, Colton?"

"That's probably not a pitch you want to swing at in that game situation."

 

[Pickles]

Just now, RZNJ said:

Cowser was too passive last year waiting for that pitch.  This year he’s doing exactly what they wanted him to do.  Attack strikes early.   
 

Please, no more of your assurances.

They want him to swing at borderline breaking balls when he's up in the count?

I guarantee you that's not true.

[Just Regular]

Tactically, it wasn't the sharpest individual decision, but strategically I do think Cowser is now in the "swing more, Gunnar" mode of his rookie integration.

[Pickles]

Just now, Just Regular said:

Tactically, it wasn't the sharpest individual decision, but strategically I do think Cowser is now in the "swing more, Gunnar" mode of his rookie integration.

That's probably true, but that doesn't forgive this individual bad decision.  

[RZNJ]

3 minutes ago, Pickles said:

They want him to swing at borderline breaking balls when he's up in the count?

I guarantee you that's not true.

Now a guarantee?  lol

A 1-0 count is a lot different than a 3-1 count.    He swung at a strike on a 1-0 count and didn’t hit the ball hard.  That’s not an atrocious at bat.  It’s not a pitch that he can’t hit hard.  He just didn’t.   

[Sports Guy]

I think Pickles is a little bat sh!t crazy with some of his points here but the one thing I will say is that a good result doesn’t mean you make a good decision.

[Pickles]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I think Pickles is a little bat sh!t crazy with some of his points here but the one thing I will say is that a good result doesn’t mean you make a good decision.

What's bat shit crazy about what I've said?  Be specific.

[Pickles]

6 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Now a guarantee?  lol

A 1-0 count is a lot different than a 3-1 count.    He swung at a strike on a 1-0 count and didn’t hit the ball hard.  That’s not an atrocious at bat.  It’s not a pitch that he can’t hit hard.  He just didn’t.   

Borderline breaking balls are not a pitch you should be swinging at with no strikes.  This is literally the exact thing they're talking about when they talk about swing decisions.

I know they rank every swing decision and then have some app to share them with the players after the game.

Sure would like to have that available right now.