Colton Cowser 2024

[Orioles Jim]

53 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Didn’t see it from that angle, thanks!

[Sports Guy]

Good info here (including the tweet that was quoted):

 

[Conway12]

Count me among those that say to be more productive he needs to start hitting more Pull side Flyballs. If you breakdown all of his splits when he pulls the ball over half the time it's on the ground (66.7% to be exact). When he elevates the ball, it's to the opposite field (only 12.8% of his flyballs have been to the pull side), and those batted balls just aren't as valuable. It's the same reason Mountcastle had big splits last year on his expected numbers vs. real numbers. 

A pulled flyball is the most valuable type of batted ball. If he wants to improve his numbers he needs to elevate his pulled batted balls and stop smashing them into the ground at 100 mph. 

Or he could start smoking line drives into the gaps that aren't going to be caught (ala Westburg). His line drive rate is only 16.8% which is below league average. 

[DirtyBird]

Need an update on how well Cowser is actually doing and how dumb we are for not realizing it.

[RZNJ]

6 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Need an update on how well Cowser is actually doing and how dumb we are for not realizing it.

You're still dumb but he's not hitting the ball hard last few games.  He had been.  Update completed. 

[Sports Guy]

21 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Need an update on how well Cowser is actually doing and how dumb we are for not realizing it.

He didn’t have a good series vs Toronto.  Did have some long fly ball outs but nothing great there.

But that’s the first series you could say that about for a while.

[G54377]

Given his ability to play center, his youth/profile, and the hot streak he had early (I.E. the "upside"), you take the lumps. It's not like Mullins or Hays are knocking down the door for his at bats based on their own recent performance.

[Bahama O's Fan]

12 hours ago, G54377 said:

Given his ability to play center, his youth/profile, and the hot streak he had early (I.E. the "upside"), you take the lumps. It's not like Mullins or Hays are knocking down the door for his at bats based on their own recent performance.

That's what I was thinking. What better option do you have in CF right now? Mullins has fallen off a cliff and Hays is injured alot. Ride him out. 

[Sports Guy]

 

[Frobby]

Cowser has exceeded my expectations in CF.  I thought he’d be passable, but now I think he’s perfectly fine out there.  He’s not going to win any Gold Gloves, but I don’t watch him and say, “there’s a corner OF pretending to play CF.”  +1 OAA, +0.5 UZR, +3 Rtot, +1 Rdrs. Truth is, he’s been as good or better than Mullins (+1 OAA, +0.1 UZR, -3 Rtot, 0 Rdrs).   He’s actually a bit faster than Mullins (28.1 ft/sec to 27.8) and at 6’2” has a much longer reach than the 5’9” Mullins, so some of those spectacular plays Mullins makes just don’t look so hard when Cowser makes them.   

Cowser is struggling a bit offensively, but I think he’s still learning and the basic fundamentals are there.  I’m pretty bullish on him even though the numbers aren’t there yet.   
 

[Tony-OH]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Cowser has exceeded my expectations in CF.  I thought he’d be passable, but now I think he’s perfectly fine out there.  He’s not going to win any Gold Gloves, but I don’t watch him and say, “there’s a corner OF pretending to play CF.”  +1 OAA, +0.5 UZR, +3 Rtot, +1 Rdrs. Truth is, he’s been as good or better than Mullins (+1 OAA, +0.1 UZR, -3 Rtot, 0 Rdrs).   He’s actually a bit faster than Mullins (28.1 ft/sec to 27.8) and at 6’2” has a much longer reach than the 5’9” Mullins, so some of those spectacular plays Mullins makes just don’t look so hard when Cowser makes them.   

Cowser is struggling a bit offensively, but I think he’s still learning and the basic fundamentals are there.  I’m pretty bullish on him even though the numbers aren’t there yet.   
 

Cowser has certainly improved his outfield defense everywhere and he's clearly gotten used to the second deck of most major league stadiums. His burst is showing that he's getting comfortable reading balls off the bat. His routes have never been absolutely great but his footspeed has made up for it.

I think @Sports Guy has shown how much bad luck he's run into the last month or so, but at the end of the day, look at his percentiles. This is an above average player that is going to get hot again.

[emmett16]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Cowser has exceeded my expectations in CF.  I thought he’d be passable, but now I think he’s perfectly fine out there.  He’s not going to win any Gold Gloves, but I don’t watch him and say, “there’s a corner OF pretending to play CF.”  +1 OAA, +0.5 UZR, +3 Rtot, +1 Rdrs. Truth is, he’s been as good or better than Mullins (+1 OAA, +0.1 UZR, -3 Rtot, 0 Rdrs).   He’s actually a bit faster than Mullins (28.1 ft/sec to 27.8) and at 6’2” has a much longer reach than the 5’9” Mullins, so some of those spectacular plays Mullins makes just don’t look so hard when Cowser makes them.   

Cowser is struggling a bit offensively, but I think he’s still learning and the basic fundamentals are there.  I’m pretty bullish on him even though the numbers aren’t there yet.   
 

I agree and I'd say that's pretty darn exciting. Count me as bullish as well.  If Cowser can be the long-term CF with his offensive profile this team looks very different.  Adley, Gunnar, Cowser up the middle is a heck of an offensive advantage over most.  That opens up more offensive possibilities in LF and RF.  

[Sports Guy]

4 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Cowser has certainly improved his outfield defense everywhere and he's clearly gotten used to the second deck of most major league stadiums. His burst is showing that he's getting comfortable reading balls off the bat. His routes have never been absolutely great but his footspeed has made up for it.

I think @Sports Guy has shown how much bad luck he's run into the last month or so, but at the end of the day, look at his percentiles. This is an above average player that is going to get hot again.

Those fielding stats.  

[Greg Pappas]

His defense has improved considerably, though I will add his throwing is consistently dreadful.  How this happens at the big-league level escapes me.  If he can get that under control, he could go from solid to very good.

Besides his throwing, his ability to handle CF, which has been discussed a possibility since drafting him, is quite promising, and as @emmett16  said above, creates an opening on the corners. This would alleviate the need to keep Mullins around for his defense.  Good points all around.

Edited June 7 by Greg Pappas

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Those fielding stats.  

Those throws.