This Orioles outfielder is slated for a make-or-break season in 2026

The Baltimore Orioles are going to start getting all of their roster pieces in place, and soon. All of Baltimore's young players are going to become expensive through the arbitration process, and the Orioles have to know who they can lean on going forward. Unfortunately for Colton Cowser, the 2026 season may be his last chance to prove he belongs.

Hopes were high for Cowser coming off a 2024 season when he placed second in AL Rookie of the Year voting while looking like a real threat on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, after a 2025 season that can best be described as a disaster — though he was reportedly dealing with injury issues —Cowser could be on the outside looking in sooner than fans may think.

Colton Cowser has only so many chances to show he can hit enough to stay in Orioles lineup

Cowser's defense carried him in 2025, but the rest of his numbers were ugly. Across 360 plate appearances, he slashed .196/.269/.385 with a whole lot of strikeouts along the way. In fact, Cowser finished in the bottom 1% in all of baseball in strikeout percentage and the bottom 2% when it comes to whiff percentage. To stay in the big leagues, he's going to have to make marked improvements at the plate.

The Orioles are now on the clock. Baltimore signed Pete Alonso and finally pushed their chips in this offseason. The Orioles are going to need results, and fast. They cannot afford to wait around for Cowser to figure things out while dragging the rest of the O's lineup down. There's already an argument that Cowser was bad enough that he should lose his starting job already. Those calls are going to get louder if Cowser lays an egg during the first half of 2026.

The odds are good that the Orioles will give Cowser a shot to be the starting centerfielder when the 2026 season begins. He was good as recently as 2024, and was considered one of the better prospects in all of baseball before that. However, that doesn't mean the leash shouldn't be shorter this year. Baltimore has a number of young players who deserve playing time, so Cowser is going to have to earn the right to keep his spot.