Colton Cowser

Colton Cowser

24-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Baltimore Orioles
Out
Injury Hand
Est. Return 2/1/2025
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Cowser made his big-league debut in early-July, and while he played regularly for brief stretches, he never got going at the plate and was sent back to Triple-A in mid-August. From there, he helped lead the Norfolk Tides to the Triple-A National Championship, hitting a grand slam in the title game against the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate. The No. 5 overall pick in 2021, Cowser seemingly mastered the highest level of the minors, slashing .300/.417/.520 with 17 home runs, nine steals, a 26.8 K% and a 16.0 BB% in 87 games. He had a 110-mph maxEV at Triple-A and a 105-mph 90th percentile exit velocity, so Cowser projects for at least average game pop (20-25 homers over a full prime season). He's an above-average runner with a plus arm, so he can play all three outfield spots as needed. Even when he was struggling in the majors, Cowser was walking almost 17 percent of the time, and he has never had a walk rate below 10 percent in pro ball, so he still has a chance to lead off long-term for this loaded young lineup. However, in the short term, he'll likely be in the bottom half while sitting against some lefties. Baltimore's trade activity this winter will dictate whether Cowser opens at Triple-A or in the majors. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#406
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Orioles in March of 2024.
Undergoes hand surgery
OFBaltimore Orioles
Hand
October 15, 2024
Cowser had successful surgery on his fractured hand Tuesday, Andy Kostka of TheBaltimoreBanner.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Cowser fractured his left hand in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series versus the Royals on Oct. 2, the game in which the Orioles were eliminated. Given the timing of the injury, Cowser is expected to have enough recovery time to be ready for the start of spring training.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
22
1
9
15
25
21
8
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
1
5
10
7
7
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+16%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+22%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+11%
OPS vs LHP
2022
No Stats
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .653 155 19 5 9 5 .220 .284 .369
Since 2022vs Right .757 483 73 19 64 5 .232 .327 .430
2024vs Left .661 146 17 5 8 5 .224 .281 .381
2024vs Right .806 415 60 19 61 4 .249 .335 .471
2023vs Left .476 9 2 0 1 0 .143 .333 .143
2023vs Right .428 68 13 0 3 1 .111 .279 .148
2022vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+6%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+4%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+106%
OPS on Road
2022
No Stats
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .708 313 50 12 28 4 .228 .316 .391
Since 2022Away .754 325 42 12 45 6 .229 .317 .437
2024Home .753 282 43 12 28 3 .247 .326 .426
2024Away .783 279 34 12 41 6 .238 .315 .468
2023Home .266 31 7 0 0 1 .040 .226 .040
2023Away .548 46 8 0 4 0 .167 .326 .222
2022Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Colton Cowser compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.30
 
BB Rate
9.3%
 
K Rate
30.7%
 
BABIP
.317
 
ISO
.204
 
AVG
.242
 
OBP
.321
 
SLG
.447
 
OPS
.768
 
wOBA
.336
 
Exit Velocity
90.5 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
37.1%
 
Barrels/PA
8.0%
 
Expected BA
.234
 
Expected SLG
.449
 
Sprint Speed
24.3 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
43.5%
 
Line Drive %
17.3%
 
Fly Ball %
39.2%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
The Orioles are going to be quite good, sooner than later, and Cowser has a chance to be their leadoff hitter. The No. 5 overall pick from 2021 started the year at High-A and finished the year at Triple-A, with his best run coming in 49 games at Double-A where he rode a .446 BABIP to a .341/.469/.568 slash line with 10 home runs, a 16.1 BB% and a 25.4 K%. In addition to being an on-base maven (career .422 OBP), Cowser has generally graded out as an above-average runner, but he only attempted three steals over the final 72 games after going 17-for-18 on stolen-base attempts in the first 65 games. That said, there's no reason he can't steal double-digit bases in the majors if he has the green light. Cowser's 19 home runs in 627 plate appearances accurately represents where his power projects. The main things to keep an eye on are his strikeouts and batting average. A 27.9 K% while walking 15% of the time and logging an .877 OPS isn't a death knell, but he hasn't proven yet that he will be a high-AVG hitter against top-end pitching. Cowser is a center fielder by trade, but he can also move to left, depending where the need is in Baltimore. He should debut this season.
Cowser has put up eye-popping numbers at mid-major Sam Houston State and as a 21-year-old in complex ball and at Low-A, but we're still waiting for him to perform against strong competition. That's not his fault, but the context of his statistics is relevant. He was a career .374/.490/.680 hitter in the Southland Conference and hit .375/.490/.492 with two home runs and seven steals in 32 games in the lower levels of the minors after the Orioles gave him an under-slot $4.9 million bonus after taking him with the No. 5 overall pick. His hit tool is clearly his top fantasy-relevant tool, as it's unclear how long he will maintain above-average speed and he is not a lock to tap into 20-homer power. The hope is that he can be a strong leadoff hitter for an improved Orioles lineup by 2024.
More Fantasy News
Suffers hand fracture
OFBaltimore Orioles
Hand
October 2, 2024
Cowser was diagnosed with a left hand fracture after Wednesday's loss to the Royals, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Exits with hand injury
OFBaltimore Orioles
Hand
October 2, 2024
Cowser was removed from Wednesday's game against the Royals due to pain in his left hand, Danielle Allentuck of TheBaltimoreBanner.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Resting Saturday
OFBaltimore Orioles
September 28, 2024
Cowser isn't in the Orioles' lineup Saturday against Minnesota, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Launches homer in Friday's win
OFBaltimore Orioles
September 28, 2024
Cowser went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's 7-2 win over the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Notches ninth steal
OFBaltimore Orioles
September 26, 2024
Cowser went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, three RBI, one stolen base and one run scored in Wednesday's 9-7 win over the Yankees.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Not hitting in May
OFBaltimore Orioles
May 25, 2024
Following Saturday's 5-3 win against the White Sox, Cowser is batting .180 with four doubles and 19 strikeouts in 61 at-bats during May.
ANALYSIS
The 24-year-old was named the American League Rookie of the Month for March/April after he posted a 1.004 OPS and six homers in 28 games, but he's now gone 22 straight contests without a long ball. Fellow outfielders Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander and Austin Hays have also struggled offensively, so Cowser's role as the primary left fielder should be secure for the time being.
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