FORT MYERS, Florida—Colton Cowser, who had a rocky start to his major league career last season, will get another chance at the big leagues when he opens the season with the Orioles.
The 24-year-old outfielder, who was the Orioles’ top draft choice and the fifth overall in 2021, was just 7-for-61 (.115) in 26 games last season. In spring training, Cowser hit .304 with six home runs and 13 RBIs and a 1.135 OPS.
Despite striking out in both at-bats in the Orioles’ 8-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday and finishing 3-for-23, Cowser was given the good news after the game.
Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Heasley was optioned to Triple-A camp after the game and, according to a source, infielder Nick Maton and outfielder Ryan McKenna were told they would not make the team.
Infielder/outfielder Tyler Nevin and right-hander Jacob Webb are likely to be included on the Opening Day roster unless there are other moves made before the 26-man roster must be set on Thursday.
Maton, who was hitless in 23 at-bats this spring, and McKenna, who hit .135, are out of options and must pass through waivers if the Orioles decide they’d like to keep them in the organization.
If no other moves are made, Cowser, MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 prospect, will be the only rookie on what’s still a very young team.
“I feel like the work is there, and I felt like I had a really good spring,” Cowser said. “Overall, I liked the way I was aggressive, and I was just informed that I made the club.”
Cowser was about to answer a follow-up question and blurted out: “Was I supposed to say that?” A team employee quickly told him: “No, you’re good.”
He said he became more confident in the past week or so.
“It’s hard not to think about it,” Cowser said. “Today, especially, not that I didn’t care about what happened in the game, but it was in the back of my mind the whole day. Not that it got in the way.”
Cowser said he wasn’t concerned that his recent slump would be held against him.
“No, not really. It’s spring, it’s early. I think everyone was finetuning their approach, came out of the gate swinging really well, and then I got to the point where I was swinging well, I could hit everything, and then started swinging at a lot of pitches.
“Towards the end there, it felt like I really started to finetune the approach and started feeling better.”
After last season’s disappointment, Cowser can’t wait to get started.
“I’m excited. I had the whole offseason to think about it,” he said. “I knew how challenging it was going to be. I’m just looking forward to whenever I’m called upon, I’ll be ready for whatever I have to do.”