FORT MYERS, Fla. — Unlike the Orioles’ other top prospects. Colton Cowser won’t have to hope for a midseason call-up to play in the major leagues this season.
The Orioles on Sunday informed the outfield prospect that he will break camp in the big leagues, providing additional clarity to what Baltimore’s opening day roster might look like Thursday against the visiting Los Angeles Angels.
Shortly after the Orioles’ spring training finale, Cowser exited the locker room and said during his postgame scrum that the club’s brass had just told him he was on the team after a long and competitive camp battle. He was “excited” about the news, and once he revealed it and saw faces of reporters who were learning the information for the first time, he questioned whether he made a mistake.
“I don’t know, was I supposed to say that?” Cowser said while looking at a team official, who nodded.
There was no mistake, and Cowser is eager to prove that putting him back in the show won’t be one, either.
“I’m going to soak it in, and do whatever it takes to stay up here,” he said.
After the scrum, Cowser asked a favor of the reporters who quickly grabbed their phones to post the news on social media.
“Could you hold off for a little so I can call my parents?” he requested, asking for a two-minute embargo, and the reporters gladly obliged.
The move to have Cowser on the opening day roster wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but as spring wore on, it became a question whether any rookie would make the club after top prospect Jackson Holliday was controversially reassigned Friday. But the 24-year-old earned the fourth outfield job with his tools at the plate — he hit .304 with a 1.135 OPS this spring — and his ability to play all three outfield spots. He beat out fellow outfield prospects and friends Kyle Stowers and Heston Kjerstad, among others, for the spot behind starters Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander.
“I had the whole offseason to think about how challenging it was going to be,” Cowser said. “I’m just looking forward to whenever I’m called upon, and I’ll be ready for whatever I have to do.”
Cowser, the Orioles’ No. 4 prospect and the sport’s 34th overall according to Baseball America, was one of their best hitters this spring, impressing executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias with his confidence at the plate after he struggled during a brief stint in the majors last year. The 2021 fifth-overall pick hit .115 in 26 games after making his MLB debut in July and was demoted to Triple-A.
“This looks like the guy that we’ve seen in the minors more than the one that came up and had some struggles last summer,” Elias said Friday. “Colton’s really improved his standing with anyone that’s watched him, but it’s nothing out of character for the talent that he’s been this whole time.”
Cowser making the club was just one of several moves and decisions by the club Sunday that clarify what the opening day roster will look like.
Outfielder Ryan McKenna and infielder Nick Maton were both told by the Orioles that they will not be breaking camp in the major leagues, according to a source with direct knowledge. Earlier Sunday, second baseman Kolten Wong was granted his release after he opted out of his minor league deal because he wasn’t going to make the Orioles’ opening day roster.
With Cowser on the roster and McKenna and Maton not, that means corner infielder-outfielder Tyler Nevin has an inside track to break camp with the Orioles as a right-handed bench bat. But that’s far from a guarantee, as the Orioles could add to the roster in the coming days. Baltimore doesn’t need to set its roster until Thursday morning.
McKenna, a staple on Baltimore’s bench the past three seasons, and Maton, an offseason addition via a cash trade, will need to be designated for assignment and passed through waivers to remain in the organization because neither player has a minor league option left. McKenna played in 282 games for the Orioles since 2021, many as a defensive replacement. He posted a .677 OPS last year — below average but not detrimentally bad for a backup outfielder — and was reliable in whatever role Hyde needed him in. But he struggled this spring with a .135 average, as did Maton, who was hitless in 23 at-bats.
The Orioles’ pitching staff is also becoming clearer after relievers Jonathan Heasley, Bryan Baker and Andrew Suárez were sent to minor league camp Sunday and right-hander Julio Teheran was granted his release after he opted out of his minor league deal because he wasn’t going to break camp with the club.
That means left-hander Keegan Akin and right-hander Jacob Webb, who is out of options, are front-runners for the last two bullpen spots if no external players are added. Last year, the Orioles acquired left-hander Danny Coulombe in a cash trade at the end of spring training — an under-the-radar move that paid dividends.
The Orioles have 32 players remaining on their spring training roster, including McKenna and Maton, who haven’t been designated for assignment yet as the club hasn’t officially announced they wouldn’t be breaking camp in the majors. Three of the players — John Means, Kyle Bradish and Félix Bautista — will begin the season on the injured list. And catcher Michael Pérez is unlikely to make the team behind catchers Adley Rutschman and James McCann.
That leaves the following as a projected opening day roster with the caveat that Elias and company still have more than three days to make changes.
Starting pitchers: Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer, Cole Irvin
Relief pitchers: Craig Kimbrel, Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Dillon Tate, Cionel Pérez, Mike Baumann, Keegan Akin, Jacob Webb
Catchers: Adley Rutschman, James McCann
Infielders: Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías, Jordan Westburg, Jorge Mateo, Tyler Nevin
Outfielders: Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Colton Cowser