Colton Cowser’s optimism for rebound with Orioles is great, but he has long road ahead

Colton Cowser didn't take the step forward most Baltimore Orioles fans had hoped the third-year big leaguer would take. After missing portions of the 2025 season due to injuries that limited him to 92 games, hopes were that a fully healthy season in 2026 would see him build on his strong rookie campaign in 2024.

That didn't end up being the case, though. The 26-year-old center fielder hit .226 with a .687 OPS this season. He had just 23 extra-base hits, fewer than he had in 2025 while playing 50 more games, and only drove in 40 runs. While he took a step forward defensively last season, being one of the best defenders in the game in center, the praise was mitigated by his struggles at the plate.

Cowser recognized his struggles when talking to reporters late in the season. As chronicled by MLB.com's Jake Ril l, Cowser was able to list off multiple problem areas he suffered with this season. The 26-year-old rightly pointed to his struggles against lefties this season, his inability to do damage on fastballs, and his overall inconsistency during the season as all things he wants to improve on in 2027.

Colton Cowser can't rush his progress on he might go backwards

While it is great that Cowser was able to identify problem areas in his offensive approach, that's not a small list, and those aren't insignificant things to fix. Some players will spend entire offseasons working on just one of those three areas, never mind trying to fix all three.

To be able to hit better against lefties, Cowser could spend months working on tweaks to his stance and swing path to better be able to see and attack pitches coming from the left side. To be able to hit fastballs better, he could spend months working on hitting velocity to improve his timing. To find consistency, he could look to make numerous changes to his routine that might take time to feel natural.

While overall growth is always necessary in baseball, most players use the offseason to rest, recover, and pick a singular area to improve on while staying sharp. If Cowser splits his focus too much, he could easily lose recovery time and also not improve enough in any one area to make an impact.

The former top draft pick needs to take his time with this. The level of urgency is understandable, both from an individual performance and a team context perspective, but taking his time is the only thing that will truly help him reach his goals. Unfortunately, that could mean some more struggles in 2027.

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Colton Cowser can't rush his progress on he might go backwards

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