The wave of prospect talent moving to the big-league Orioles continues Wednesday with the promotion of Colton Cowser. The Orioles made the move official in the afternoon, several hours before their bout with the Yankees in New York.
Cowser is a 23-year- old outfielder who swings left-handed and throws righty. He was the Orioles' first-round pick (fifth overall) in the 2021 draft out of Sam Houston State. Just about a month ago, CBS Sports prospect expert RJ Anderson ranked Cowser as the No. 21 prospect in baseball. At the time, he said the following:
Cowser hits the ball hard and commands the strike zone as well as anyone in Triple-A. He's also an above-average runner who would be in line to play center if not for Cedric Mullins' continued presence on the Orioles roster. We will note that Cowser does have a substandard in-zone contact rate; we think the breadth of his skill set will allow him to overcome that defect and become a productive most-days starter all the same.
In 56 games with Triple-A Norfolk this season, Cowser hit .330/.459/.537 with 10 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 40 RBI, 54 runs and seven steals in eight tries. As noted above, he will strike out, as he's done 60 times in 203 at-bats, but everything else about his game is excellent.
Cowser has started 30 games in center field, six in left and 11 in right. Austin Hays (LF), Cedric Mullins (CF) and Anthony Santander (RF or DH) get regular starts while Aaron Hicks has been playing very well in his time with the ballclub. The best bet is Cowser isn't being called up to ride pine, though, so we'll assume he rotates between the three outfield spots and gives those veterans days off in doing so.
Cowser is just the latest highly-touted prospect to join the Orioles since early last season, joining Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.
The Orioles are 49-35 this season, holding the top AL wild-card spot. They have, however, hit a lull. They are 16-18 since May 25 and have currently lost six of their last seven games.
