Colton Cowser's roller coaster season is trending up again

I don’t know if O’s outfielder Colton Cowser enjoys riding roller coasters, but his 2024 season has been like a ride on a coaster.

A few big ups and downs.

When you add the ups and downs together, he has played in 111 games for the club this year batting .250/.328/.460/.788 with 17 doubles, a triple, 18 homers and 54 RBIs.

Cowser leads all MLB rookies with the 18 homers. He hit two in the last four games of the O’s road trip and has hit four over his past 13 games.

Cowser’s slugging percentage is 19^th best in the American League and he ranks 22^nd-best in OPS.

Those are solid rankings when you consider how much his bat cooled off until just recently.

Cowser’s 125 OPS+ is a real solid number that ranks fifth among the Orioles behind Gunnar Henderson (165), Anthony Santander (138), Jordan Westburg (131) and Ryan O’Hearn (130).

He has put his name back front and center among top rookies in the American League. Seven Orioles have won the AL ROY award, but they’ve never had back-to-back winners. After Gunnar Henderson took home the hardware last year, Cowser is contending now.

Manager Brandon Hyde said he certainly should be in consideration.

"Let’s start with the offense, the kind of year he’s had,” said Hyde. “I’m proud of him. He went through about two months of tough times where the league really adjusted to his first month. The at-bats these last few weeks have really been good. He’s taking walks. He’s on time with the fastball but he is also getting base hits or foul balls or takes on tough offspeed pitches. He wasn’t doing that earlier.

“Doing what he is doing offensively, and he’s done a really nice job on defense. He’s played center, played a great left field for us. He’s got some speed and you can do some things on the bases. Just having a really, really solid year. Happy he’s leading the conversation for that award.”

Cowser was named the AL Rookie of the Month for the period of March and April when he hit .303 with a 1.004 OPS.

Then in 60 games from May 1 through July 14 and the All-Star game, Cowser hit .183/.278/.328/.606.

But starting July 19, right out of the break, Cowser’s bat has taken off again. Cowser began a 17-game hitting streak in the first game of the second half. The streak tied Trey Mancini from 2017 as longest ever by an O’s rookie.

And now in 23 games since the break, Cowser is batting .337/.392/.576/.968. He has six homers and 10 extra-base hits in that span with 20 RBIs. He had six total homers in those 60 games from May 1-July 14.

In the final 10 games going into the All-Star break, Cowser was 4-for-31 (.129).

But then he came out hot after the All-Star game. About two weeks ago, Cowser said a bigger bat was one reason why he was hitting better.

“I made a bat change," he told reporters then. "I started swinging a 34-inch bat right out of the break. I don’t know if that is changing anything crazy for me. Think overall just think confidence. Had a good mental reset during the break. Trying to put together quality at-bats and help the team win. Doing anything I can.”

He is sure doing that, playing well right now for the Orioles. He has been in the leadoff spot for 14 games, batting .311 with four homers, 10 RBIs and with an OPS of .889 atop the batting order.

His overall year has been solid, but with big swings up and down along the way. 

Here is a look at O's Rookie of the Year winners:

1960 - Ron Hansen.
1965 - Curt Blefary.
1973 - Al Bumbry.
1977 - Eddie Murray.
1982 - Cal Ripken Jr
1989 - Gregg Olson.
2023 - Gunnar Henderson.

Some movement in the minors: We know now the first five members of the Orioles' 2024 draft class that will be heading to a minor league affiliate. These draftees will be joining Low-A Delmarva today.

* PPI pick (No. 32 overall), IF Griff O'Ferrall from UVa.

* Round 2 pick (No. 61 overall), C Ethan Anderson.

* Round 3 pick (No. 97 overall), OF Austin Overn from USC.

* Round 5 pick (No. 160 overall), C Ryan Stafford from Cal-Poly.

* Round 8 pick (No. 249 overall), C Colin Tuft from Tulane.

The Orioles are moving two players from their rookie-level Florida Complex League roster to Delmarva, and they are infielder Elis Cuevas and catcher Miguel Rodriguez. Cuevas, 19 from the Dominican Republic, hit .270 with an .810 OPS and 33 steals in 56 FCL games.

The O's are moving four players from Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen. They are outfielders Jake Cunningham and Thomas Sosa, infielder Leandro Arias and catcher Aneudis Mordán.

Mordán, age 20 from the DR, has hit 13 homers, which is tied for fourth in the Carolina League, and he has a .714 OPS in 86 games. Sosa, age 19 from the DR, has hit .244 with a .697 OPS in 74 games.