Cowser was a late bloomer at Cypress Ranch HS (Cypress, Texas), where he played alongside projected 2021 first-rounder Ty Madden as well as J.J. Goss and Matt Thompson, who both went in the top two rounds in 2019. Scouts liked Cowser but not enough to divert him from Sam Houston, where he could surpass Glenn Wilson (No. 18 overall, 1980) as the highest pick in school history. The only Bearkat ever to play for the U.S. collegiate national team, he earned MVP honors in a 2019 series against Cuba after batting .438 in six games.
One of the best bats in the college class, Cowser has a pure left-handed stroke and repeatedly finds the barrel. His quick hands allow him to pepper line drives all over the field as he executes a very controlled approach. Though he presently doesn't have a lot of loft in his swing, leading to some questions about his power potential, he has the hitting ability and strength to provide 20 or more homers annually and answered some questions about his power by going deep in five straight games in April and topping the Southland Conference with 16 homers this spring.
Scouts were somewhat split on Cowser's ability to play center field, though they believe in him now that he has posted consistent plus running times this spring. He has good defensive instincts in center, possesses an average arm and spent most of his prep career in right field -- Goss and Thompson played center when they weren't pitching -- and part of his freshman season at third base. The Southland Conference player of the year's game has earned him comparisons to Brandon Nimmo and Bradley Zimmer and he could join them as mid-first-round picks.
With the noticeable exception of top prospect Jackson Holliday, the Orioles have been very bullish on college hitters over the last few years of the Draft, a run that began with Adley Rutschman in 2019. It continued with Heston Kjerstad in 2020 and extended to Cowser as the No. 5 overall pick in 2021, and like Kjerstad, he was signed at a discount. Cowser hasn’t performed like a bargain, touching Triple-A in his first full season, then dominating back at that level in 2023 (.937 OPS), though he didn’t take advantage of his first chance to prove himself in the big leagues.
Despite the small hiccup over 61 Major League at-bats, Cowser still profiles as an everyday presence in a big league lineup. He has a smooth left-handed swing and good overall approach and draws plenty of walks, even during his time in Baltimore. He can drive the ball to all fields and consistently hit the ball hard in 2023. He also cut down his strikeout rate a bit, though he still had some difficulty with spin, with a 45 percent miss rate on breaking stuff while with Norfolk.
Cowser runs well and has shown he can play a solid center field with excellent instincts, something he was called upon to do in Baltimore last year. With a strong arm, he might be best suited for a corner spot should he settle in at one position, though his first order of business will be trying to find a way to break through the logjam of talent to land in the big leagues full time.
Cowser was the top-ranked college hitter in the 2021 Draft class, coming in at No. 10 overall, and the Orioles took him No. 5 overall that summer to make him the second first-round pick in Sam Houston State history. He signed for a below-slot $4.9 million and made a very strong first impression with a .982 OPS in his professional debut. He kept it going in his first full season, making his way from High-A to Double-A, where he absolutely raked to earn one more move up to finish the year in Triple-A.
A 6-foot-3 left-handed hitter, Cowser combines an outstanding swing, bat speed and good plate discipline to make him a dangerous all-around hitter. He was known more as a hit-over-power type, but the pop is very real and showed up in his first full season. He understands the strike zone, leading to 94 walks in 2022, but there was also more swing-and-miss to his game than anticipated. He struggled with softer stuff at the upper levels, with a 44 percent miss rate on breaking stuff, though that didn’t keep him from driving the ball to all fields.
While he’s not a burner, Cowser uses his tick-above-average speed well on both sides of the ball. He’s shown he can play solid center field with good instincts, but long term he might be better suited in a corner, where he could be a very good defender with an above-average arm. He jumped on the fast track and impacted Baltimore’s lineup for the first time in 2023.
Sam Houston State has produced two first-round picks in school history. The first was Glenn Wilson, the No. 18 pick back in 1980 who spent parts of 10 years in the big leagues. Cowser became the second when the Orioles took a college outfielder high in the Draft and went under slot to do so for the second straight year. Cowser signed for $4.9 million as the No. 5 overall pick and then posted a .375/.490/.492 in his pro debut, mostly in full-season ball, to provide a very strong early return on that investment, following it up by hitting his way to Double-A in his first full season.
A big and strong left-handed hitter, Cowser has a tremendous feel to hit and an advanced approach at the plate that allowed him to walk more than he struck out not only in his college career, but in his pro debut as well. He can send line drives to all fields and while he was known as a hit-over-power type of performer, the Orioles see some serious power coming from the 6-foot-3 outfielder.
Cowser runs pretty well, especially for his size, but might eventually settle into being an average runner in the future. He has enough instincts to play a decent center field, but he’s likely to move to a corner if a better center fielder, someone like Cedric Mullins in Baltimore, is on the team, and he could be a plus defender there should a permanent move take place. With his feel, maturity and advanced approach, it might not take long for O’s fans to find out where he’ll fit into the big league outfield.
A late bloomer at a Cypress Ranch HS (Cypress, Texas) program that also produced 2021 draftee Ty Madden (Tigers) and 2019 draftees J.J. Goss and Matt Thompson, Cowser went on to star at Sam Houston and for the U.S. collegiate national team, where he earned MVP honors in a 2019 series against Cuba. When the Orioles went under slot for the second straight year for a college bat and signed Cowser as the No. 5 overall pick for $4.9 million, he became the highest pick in school history, surpassing Glenn Wilson (No. 18 overall, 1980).
One of the best bats in the college class of 2021, Cowser has a pure left-handed stroke and repeatedly finds the barrel. His quick hands allow him to pepper line drives all over the field as he executes a very controlled approach. Though he presently doesn't have a lot of loft in his swing, leading to some questions about his power potential, he has the hitting ability and strength to provide 20 or more homers annually and answered some questions about his power by going deep in five straight games in April. He also topped the Southland Conference with 16 homers this spring.
Scouts were somewhat split on Cowser's ability to play center field, though they believed in him after he posted consistent plus running times this past spring. He has good defensive instincts in center, possesses an average arm and spent most of his prep career in right field -- Goss and Thompson played center when they weren't pitching -- and part of his freshman season at third base. The Southland Conference player of the year's game has earned him comparisons to Brandon Nimmo and Bradley Zimmer.
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2024
24
22
23
20
19
24
26
23
18
16
19
22
25
23
26
18
21
21
24
24
24
26
28
23
20
20
16
16
28
24
18
Player
24
22
23
20
19
24
26
23
18
16
19
22
25
23
26
18
21
21
24
24
24
26
28
23
20
20
16
16
28
24
18
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about how positioning is defined here
