That is when he missed 11 days due to concussion symptoms<\/a>, which stemmed from a play in Philadelphia a few days prior. His symptoms were reported as a \u201cmild,\u201d but the Orioles took precautions.<\/p>\nLooking at Cowser\u2019s splits for the year is rather brutal. The only month of positive production came in June, when he hit .250\/.310\/.550 with six home runs, 14 RBI, four walks, and 25 strikeouts over 22 games. His OPS for every other month was .594 or worse, and his batting average never got above .210 in any other month.<\/p>\n
The best Cowser looked was immediately following the three games he sat after fracturing his ribs. From June 16 through 27, he slashed .314\/.385\/.714 in a span of 10 games. For a few days that pushed his season OPS above .800 and had him looking like the 2024 version of himself.<\/p>\n
But that moment was fleeting, and it was a steep decline from there. From June 28 through the end of the year Cowser slashed .180\/.257\/.336 and struck out 100 times in 69 games. Although he was 13-for-13 on stolen base attempts and walked at a decent clip in that stretch.<\/p>\n
Cowser\u2019s nightmarish season had some members of the Orioles fan base asking questions about his future. The team had Tyler O\u2019Neill signed to a big-money deal. Dylan Beavers was emerging from Triple-A. And then early on in the offseason the team went and traded for Taylor Ward. Seemingly, there were too many corner outfielders for not enough spots on the big league roster.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the O\u2019s continued their years-long search for a \u201cfrontline\u201d starting pitcher. If they weren\u2019t going to wade into the deep end of the free agent pool, it seemed like a trade involving a young, controllable hitter was a viable alternative. Cowser, among others, fit the bill for the type of player to center a deal around.<\/p>\n
But theoreticals like that made less and less sense as the offseason progressed.<\/p>\n
The Orioles weren\u2019t involved in talks for any significant options in center, limited as they were. Luis Robert was traded to the Mets. Harrison Bader signed with the Giants. The only center fielder the O\u2019s added to the organization was Leody Taveras, a World Series winner with a useful skillset, but far from an everyday big leaguer following two subpar seasons.<\/p>\n
Internally, there wasn\u2019t much to speak of either. Beavers could play center in a pinch but not every single day. Reed Trimble was protected from the Rule 5 Draft, and could be an interesting fourth outfielder option. Enrique Bradfield Jr. is likely to get a big league call at some point in 2026, but he still has plenty to prove. His glove and his legs are ready for the big leagues. His bat, on the other hand, needs some work. The 15 games he played in Norfolk last year did little to force the Orioles hand on a further promotion.<\/p>\n
That leaves Cowser as the logical solution in center, a position in Baltimore that had belonged to Cedric Mullins for years. Cowser has plenty of experience in the role. He spent 47 games there in 2025, 45 games in \u201824, and 10 in \u201823. That doesn\u2019t even account for his minor league work. While not as sterling as his performance in left field, advanced metrics like his movement in center. He has been worth 1 OAA in each of the last two seasons despite it not being his full-time position. And his throwing arm is one of the most feared in the league. Defensively, it should fit him just fine.<\/p>\n
The bigger questions pertain to his bat. Orioles center fielders posted an 87 wRC+ in 2025, putting them in the bottom half of the league. Cowser himself had an 83 wRC+ overall and it dipped to 78 when he played center.<\/p>\n
As constructed, the Orioles probably don\u2019t need Cowser to bounce all the way back to his 2024 form, when he had 119 wRC+. They will be relying more on Henderson, Ward, Pete Alonso, and Jordan Westburg for most of their offense. But their center fielder will need to be closer to league average in order to be a viable everyday option. He has shown an ability to do that before, and if healthy he should be able to get there again.<\/p>\n
The only worry is that there is no built in safety net for Cowser or the Orioles. They don\u2019t have immediately viable solutions in-house, and there here aren\u2019t many useful center fielders available via trade or free agency. Most, if not all, of their eggs are in the Cowser basket.<\/p>\n
As far as bets go, it\u2019s not a bad one. Injuries derailed his 2025 campaign, and by the time he came back the Orioles season was already down the drain. Now healthy and some pressure of expectations relieved, the O\u2019s will be hoping their former top prospect can thrive in a new position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just about every member of the 2025 Orioles either underperformed or got injured. Colton Cowser did both, souring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,3357,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":["post-550508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimore-orioles-analysis","tag-baltimoreorioles","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-orioles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116001692957033665","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}