This, that and the other

The defensive metrics aren’t always in Colton Cowser’s corner, even as he’s chasing down fly balls in them.

Ask anyone with the Orioles or the scouts who filter into ballparks to file reports, and they’ll praise Cowser’s range, instincts and sure hands and note the improvements made as a professional. They love how he’s handling the tricky left field dimensions at Camden Yards as smoothly as predecessor Austin Hays, a Gold Glove finalist last year, and grown into a skilled and trusted alternative to Cedric Mullins in center.

Cowser’s 11 outs above average per FanGraphs ranked sixth in the majors yesterday, but he was credited with only one defensive run saved, and Baseball-Reference.com calculated his dWAR at minus-0.2.

Last night’s lineup put Cowser in left field for his 73^rd start this season and 90^th appearance. He made five starts last summer.

“I think he’s a legit center fielder but he can go play in the corners,” said first base coach Anthony Sanders, who also serves as outfield instructor. “Anytime you can get three center fielders on the same field, it’s gonna make the defense a lot better. He’s adjusting. I know he’s played a lot of center in the minor leagues, but that left field is like no other. You just have to drop your head and keep going and going. And he does a really good job.

“Obviously, losing Austin Hays, who I thought was excellent out there … he’s picked up the pace.”

Cowser was the American League’s Rookie of the Month for April after batting .303/.372/.632 with seven doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs in 28 games. The first dip in his season was pronounced, with Cowser slashing .188/.305/.275 with one homer in May and .182/.250/.429 in June. The resurgence produced a .329/.390/.521 line in July, the next dip created a .234/.303/.414 line in August, and Cowser was 3-for-8 this month heading into last night.

The total picture portrays Cowser as one of the favorites to be named AL Rookie of the Year.

“He’s been really impressive,” Sanders said. “If you guys know Cowser like I do, his personality, really upbeat, energetic, but it takes its toll playing every single day. But I think he’s learning how to play baseball in the big leagues right now, as well.

“Behind the scenes he’s always asking questions, paying attention, so it’s been a really positive year for him so far.”

* Gunnar Henderson set the Orioles’ shortstop homer record for a season with his 35^th last night, and he’s got 21 more games to pad it.

Henderson broke a tie with Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and six-time All-Star and former Most Valuable Player Miguel Tejada.

Did Henderson ever imagine that he’d break the record?

“Honestly, I had no idea about it, and then just as it got kind of closer, then I was more aware of it,” he admitted. “Just tried to go out there and keep playing like I normally do and things like this will come with it.”

This wasn’t Roger Maris chasing Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record in 1961 and losing patches of hair from the stress. Henderson wasn’t counting down to Ripken and Tejada. He didn’t get tipped off about it for the longest time.

“Probably when I was about two or three away,” he said with a grin. “Yeah, so it was pretty recently.”

* The Orioles haven’t swept an opponent since June 7-10 at Tropicana Field. They failed again last night with an 8-1 loss to the White Sox.

There’s no easy explanation coming from manager Brandon Hyde.

“Not really, except just we didn't play good baseball (last night),” he said.

“Offensively we didn't put the ball in play enough. We just got beat. They played better than we did. They played with more energy, intensity. Their bats were better, and their starter (Jonathan Cannon), we didn't do much against their starter.”

* The Orioles lost reliever Dillon Tate Sunday afternoon on a waiver claim by the Blue Jays, but they tried to find a trade partner for him.

A scout confirmed that the Orioles contacted his club, and he would have made the recommendation two years ago.

Tate posted a 2.16 ERA and 1.020 WHIP in 16 2/3 innings with Triple-A Norfolk, but the scout said that the right-hander’s velocity was down and his pitches lacked the usual movement. The metrics didn't match the other stats.

Forearm and elbow injuries wiped out Tate’s 2023 season and he never got back to his form from the previous summer.

The Jays optioned Tate after making the claim.

That’s it for the return from the Zack Britton trade with the Yankees in 2018. Pitchers Cody Carroll and Josh Rogers are long gone.