10:34am: Supervisor Brandon Hyde informed the O’s beat this morning that Cowser will miss six to eight weeks at minimal (through Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner).
9:00am: The Orioles introduced Monday that outfielder Colton Cowser has been positioned on the 10-day injured record as a consequence of a fractured left thumb. A timetable for his return was not specified. Cowser suffered the harm final night time whereas sliding into first base on a detailed play; he was dominated out (video hyperlink). Fellow outfielder Dylan Carlson has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in Cowser’s place.
It’s a bitter begin to the season for Cowser, final yr’s runner-up in American League Rookie of the 12 months voting. He’s posted only a .125/.222/.313 slash by means of his first 18 plate appearances and can now be an absence of some observe whereas his hand mends.
Cowser loved a monster spring, tallying 52 plate appearances with a .364/.462/.568 batting line, two homers and three doubles. The previous No. 5 general select of Sam Houston hit .242/.321/.447 with 24 homers, 24 doubles, three triples, 9 steals, a 9.3% stroll charge, a 30.7% strikeout charge and plus protection throughout all three outfield spots final yr.
In Cowser’s place, the O’s will flip to Carlson, whom they signed over the winter on a one-year, $975K deal. Like Cowser, Carlson is a former prime choose (No. 33 general by the Cardinals in 2016) and prime prospect. Issues by no means totally panned out for the switch-hitter in St. Louis, nonetheless. Carlson appeared on the cusp of a breakout in 2021 when he slashed .266/.343/.437 with 18 homers as a 22-year-old, however he adopted that with a .225/.309/.341 output over the following three seasons. The Playing cards shipped him to the Rays in trade for reliever Shawn Armstrong finally yr’s commerce deadline. Armstrong was designated for task by St. Louis in August. Carlson was non-tendered by Tampa Bay over the winter.
Nonetheless solely 26 years previous, Carlson can deal with all three outfield spots. His standing as a switch-hitter with versatility on the defensive aspect of issues will give the O’s loads of flexibility when writing out the lineup or making in-game substitutions. Carlson is a a lot, significantly better hitter from the proper aspect of the plate (.285/.361/.431) than from the left aspect (.219/.300/.355), which might set the stage for a some type of platoon with Heston Kjerstad in left subject. The O’s even have righty-swinging Ramon Laureano within the combine for outfield time, although both Carlson or Laureano might additionally see some DH time in opposition to lefties over Ryan O’Hearn.
