Baltimore Orioles fans are anxiously awaiting the promotion of Colton Cowser, who according to MLB.com is the 29th-overall prospect in baseball and Baltimore No. 2 prospect. But, it may be a little while longer, according to Orioles general manager Mike Elias.
Elias joined Inside Access on Monday and explained that Cowser's quad injury has slowed down his path toward the big leagues.
"He's healthy," said Elias. "He's has not reaggravated anything. That said, there's a comeback period from an injury like that. We're spacing out his play.
"We're pretty careful with this stuff so as to avoid reinjury. I wouldn't say he's 100 percent of himself in terms on return to play and checking all the rehab medical boxes that we want. It's going well. Nothing to worry about there. Obviously he's had a great start to the season and hopefully we can just get this in the rearview mirror and get him back to where he left off and then we'll see where we're at."
Cowser's hitting .327 with eight home runs and five stolen bases in 43 games. His OPS is a stellar 1.024.
Keith Law has a different take on why Cowser might be stalled in Triple-A, an opinion he shared on The Vinny & Haynie Show last week.
"I'm a skeptic on Cowser," said Law. "He's got real issues with left-handed pitching, he has not been great with offspeed stuff from right- or left-handers, and it may be a situation where he's got to come to the majors and they try to ease him in a platoon role."
Law's spot-on in terms of trouble facing left-handed pitching, at least prior to 2023. Cowser hit just .194 last season in 158 plate appearances versus lefty pitching. That was compared to his .307 average versus righties. But 2023 has looked different.
In a much smaller sample size, Cowser is hitting .320 with a 1.125 OPS in 22 plate appearances versus left-handed pitching. He's got a higher batting average (.339) versus right-handers but a lower OPS (1.033).
"I think Cowser still has quite a bit of work to do to be in the tier of prospects like [Jordan] Westburg," Law said.
When seems like a better question than if when speculating on Cowser's MLB debut. When the Orioles deem him 100 percent healthy and free from concern of re-injury, Cowser's numbers may force the issue. Especially if he keeps raking versus left-handed pitching.