SEATTLE — The Orioles have missed much more than just Colton Cowser’s bat.
After being sidelined for over two months with a fractured thumb, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year Award runner-up returned to the lineup Tuesday batting sixth and starting in center field. He homered in his return to help Baltimore take down the Mariners, 5-1, in their series opener.
As much as the Orioles struggled without him in the lineup — their offense averaged 3.7 runs per game after he went down, 21st in MLB over that span — their outfield defense suffered even more. The Orioles entered play Tuesday with minus-7 defensive runs saved by their outfielders this season, the lowest total of any team in baseball according to Sports Info Solutions.
Statcast’s outs above average, a statistic largely based on players’ range, painted a similar picture, pegging the Orioles at 28th with minus-9 outs. DRS and OAA both grade Heston Kjerstad poorly for his play in the field, contributing to those low totals. However, the difference in outfield play with Cowser, a Gold Glove Award finalist in 2024, against his replacements, natural infielders Jorge Mateo and Ryan O’Hearn, was another leading factor in the drop-off for a group that ranked fifth in DRS and seventh in OAA last season.
“We’re a little thin right now,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said of the Orioles’ outfield, which is still missing Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill and Ramón Laureano because of injuries. “We’ve gone through a lot of our depth in the outfield so you start playing infielders out there and you’re playing young kids out there. I think there’s going to be some mistakes and we’ve lived it. We’ve hung in there here recently and guys have certainly gotten a little bit better out there but you get a defender like Colton out there, it’s definitely going to help the squad.”
Mansolino said he’s still assembling his lineups “day by day” but Cowser is likely to see the majority of starts in center field while Mullins is sidelined. The 25-year-old was the Orioles’ everyday left fielder last season when Camden Yards had larger dimensions and he had to cover nearly as much ground as their center fielders. Cowser finished among the game’s top 10 left fielders in DRS (plus-4) and OAA (plus-11) with elite arm strength to match.
Cowser’s range will be particularly beneficial in center to help make up for Kjerstad, whose typical jump on fly balls this season is minus-3.6 feet below average — worst among all qualified outfielders.
“Confidence is a big part of the game and not having as much success as you’d like, it’s definitely tough at times to keep it at the highest levels,” Kjerstad said. “But that’s part of the game, is to keep your confidence even when you’re not at your best, and when you’re at your best, keeping the confidence level headed at the same time.”
Cowser didn’t get a ton of innings in the field during his rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Norfolk last week because of weather postponements but the Orioles (23-36) will lean on him right away to stabilize what has been a significant weakness of their roster.
“I was able to get out there and play some outfield,” Cowser said. “I had to play nine innings at some point and so the rain finally allowed it to happen this past week and it felt good to get out there and see some balls off the bat and in a live situation too.”
With a rotation that relies on flyball outs (39.6% flyball rate, 10th in MLB) and is just getting over a propensity for giving up hard contact, outfield defense is a critical component of the Orioles’ success. Cowser’s return — and perhaps that of Jordan Westburg in the next few days — is one of the last big sparks the Orioles have to ignite a turnaround and force the front office to rethink its approach at the trade deadline.
Now that Cowser is in center field, a weakness just became a strength again.
“The outfield defense, the base running, the offense, the ability to draw walks, he can beat you in a lot of different ways,” Mansolino said. “He can help you win the game in a lot of different ways. He’s just not a one-trick-pony type of player. So, we’re really excited.”
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