Five years after the Orioles drafted Colton Cowser with the #5 overall pick, he remains a frustrating enigma.
Who is the real Cowser? Is he the player who provided power, defense, and positive vibes during his AL Rookie of the Year runner-up performance in 2024? Is he the guy whose startling swing-and-miss tendencies and self-inflicted injuries made him nearly unplayable in 2025? Or is he something in between?
The O’s right now are all-in on the soon-to-be 26-year-old, penciling him in as their everyday
starter in center field without much of a backup plan. While Cowser has 102 games of center field experience, he’s spent most of his big league career in the corner spots. It remains to be seen whether his quality left field defense will translate to center over the course of 162 games.
But the bigger question is whether Cowser’s offense, which fell off the table last year, can rebound. Cowser has always been strikeout prone, though in 2024 he hit for enough power and got on base at a decent enough clip to overcome his K tendencies, posting a 120 OPS+. But in 2025 his strikeouts spiked to 128 in 360 plate appearances, an average of more than one every three PAs. He was particularly inept at hitting anything but fastballs, posting a .120 average and .286 slugging against breaking balls and .167/.218 against offspeed pitches.
If the Orioles are going to turn things around in 2026, a return to 2024 form for Cowser would go a long way to helping them. Here’s what the projections say:
- ZiPS: 483 PA, .237 AVG/.321 OBP/.427 SLG, 19 HR, 65 RBI
- Baseball Reference: 436 PA, .229 AVG/.309 OBP/.419 SLG, 18 HR, 51 RBI
I’d take either of those lines in a heartbeat from a center fielder, especially if Cowser proves capable of playing the position defensively. What do you think, Camden Chatters? What kind of 2026 season does Cowser have in store?
