The Orioles selected outfielder Colton Cowser out of Sam Houston State with the No. 5 overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound outfielder began the 2023 season at Triple-A Norfolk and entered the campaign as a .297/.422/.473 career minor league hitter.
So far this season, Cowser is slashing .347/.484/.590 with 18 extra-base hits and 31 RBIs in 39 games with Norfolk. He was activated from the 7-day injured list June 3 after missing two weeks with a little over two weeks with a quadriceps injury.
Norfolk manager Buck Britton and Sam Houston State baseball coach Jay Sirianni chatted with PressBox about the 23-year-old Cowser.
PressBox: How did you see Cowser get better under your watch?
Buck Britton: I think just being challenged with the upper-level pitching, he never wavered. His strike-zone awareness is incredible. Obviously, there are some things that he’s trying to work on — a lot of power to left-center field, maybe a little susceptible when guys run good velo in on him, so there are some things that [he tried to unlock] at spring training that’ll carry over into the season. But this guy’s a competitor, and he plays the game with ease. It never looks like it’s too hard for him at any time.
Jay Sirianni: The first thing was he just got stronger. He always had really, really good bat-to-ball skills, really good awareness of the strike zone and those kinds of things, and the strength came as he was here. The biggest thing is probably his arm. He threw a lot. He threw every day. His arm really improved while he was here. He played right or left a lot his freshman year and then his last two years he played in center field. His arm got better each year.
PB: What’s your favorite Cowser story?
BB: He did build a 7,000-piece Millennium Falcon over the course of the season, and that thing was plopped in the clubhouse in Norfolk when he got there for a little while. I kept trying to move little pieces around to see if he’d notice.
JS: I think one of the coolest stories, he signed with [the Orioles] and then I don’t know, maybe a month or two into his first year in pro ball he bought our clubhouse chairs. He just thought our guys needed chairs in the clubhouse so he bought them for them because [the Orioles] had them. It tells you what kind of kid he is more so than as a player. He’s one of ours and we love him to death.
PB: Was there a moment when you realized Cowser was going to be special?
JS: I think it was really his freshman year. We’re goofing off one day after practice. He starts taking ground balls at third, and he threw it across there like he knew what he was doing. We actually tried it for a little while. That didn’t work, so we put him back in the outfield. Then we were at the Frisco Classic his freshman year and he hits an 0-2, 90-something mph heater underneath his chin and he hits it into the pool. It’s just kind of those types of deals where he does things that you’re like, “I don’t think most people do that.” So then you just kind of let it play out, but he’s pretty good all the way around.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles
Originally published April 19, 2023. Updated June 5.