Colton Cowser’s case is pretty simple at this point: the Orioles need to stop treating him like a sure-fire everyday outfielder.
He’s almost 27 by Opening Day, he’s piled up nearly 1,400 major league plate appearances, and he has spent plenty of time in Baltimore while the club has struggled to find real production in the outfield. Even with that, Mike Elias leaned toward other options in a lost 2026 season, preferring AAAA types like Leody Taveras and Christian Franklin over Cowser.
That choice says a lot. So does the fact that Tyler O’Neill and Taylor Ward wound up with more plate appearances than Cowser, even though Cowser was healthy for most of the year. The Orioles’ view of him is clear enough: useful, but not someone you build a full-time outfield around in 2027.
The bat is the problem, and it’s a big one. Cowser can look dangerous for short bursts, then disappear for long stretches.
His monthly OPS in 2026 tells the story: .489, .891, .725, .403, .845, .666. The peaks are loud.
The valleys are brutal.
That inconsistency has been there in the bigger numbers too. His career with runners in scoring position sits at .201/.281/.386, good for a .666 OPS.
With men on base, he’s at .210/.284/.396 and a .653 OPS. Against left-handed pitching, he has 11 homers and 28 RBIs in 312 plate appearances, but that split has basically been shelved now because of a .198 career average, .606 OPS and 37% strikeout rate.
The broader offensive profile is even less comforting. Cowser’s career OBP is .305, and for a player with his athleticism, that’s not enough.
He’s also sitting in the 62nd percentile in baserunning value, which is not the kind of impact you expect from someone with his speed. At the plate, the underlying numbers are ugly: bottom 3% in squared-up rate, bottom 8% in whiff rate, bottom 5% in strikeout rate and bottom 11% in expected batting average.
And the pitch-type issues haven’t gone away. The league has known for years he struggles with changeups and other offspeed stuff, and in 2026 he posted a -4 run value against fastballs too.
There’s defensive value here, but it’s not enough to carry the rest. Cowser can make highlight-reel catches, recover with speed and flexibility, and handle center field capably.
He has arm strength, too, but not enough command of it to turn that into consistent value. Fangraphs gave him a -0.1 fielding rating in center in 2026, while baseballsavant.com had him with the 12th-best field value in center.
His arm also checked in at -1 on that site.
That’s the crux of it. He’s not a liability in center field, but he’s not special enough there to make up for the offense. Orioles analyst and former All-Star shortstop Mike Bordick put it plainly: “None of the outfielders on this roster can be starting outfielders next season,”
Cowser’s failure to lock down a bigger role, along with the collapse of Heston Kjerstad, has left Baltimore short in multiple outfield spots. The need is so obvious that the Orioles would be wise to explore Gunnar Henderson as part of a deal for an All-Star center fielder.
At this point, the Orioles have seen enough. Cowser looks like a fourth outfielder, maybe a platoon piece at best. If Baltimore wants to fix the outfield, it has to start by accepting that.
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