Colton Cowser’s Contact Gains in August Are Giving the Orioles Hope

The outfielder needs to recapture 2024 form if the Baltimore Orioles are going to contend for a Wild Card spot.

Aug 16, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Colton Cowser (17) is congratulated in the dugout after he hit s 2-run home run during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Two years ago, in 2024, Colton Cowser of the Baltimore Orioles got 13 first-place votes in the AL Rookie of the Year race. He narrowly lost to New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil, who received 15 first-place votes.

That year, a 24-year-old Cowser put up a 3.9-fWAR campaign and looked destined for stardom. He slashed a solid .242/.321/.447 with 24 home runs and a 119 wRC+ and was, or so everyone thought, establishing himself as a future franchise cornerstone in Baltimore.

Baseball can be a cruel mistress sometimes, though. Add up his 2025 and 2026 campaigns — through Monday — and you get 2.1 fWAR, an 88 wRC+, a .204 batting average, and a 33.1 percent strikeout rate. Cowser’s performance has fallen off a cliff, particularly in 2025.

Is he starting to show some signs of life, though? Is he finally starting to resemble that highly skilled and powerful outfielder who came this close to winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award? These are legitimate questions without a clear and conclusive answer, but it’s well worth analyzing what’s going on because he has been making some progress.

For the 2026 campaign (before Tuesday’s game), Cowser is slashing .216/.315/.361 with a 95 wRC+, 11 round-trippers, and 1.5 fWAR in 111 games and 296 plate appearances. He has been a rock-solid defender, with five Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and seven Outs Above Average (OAA).

Cowser, however, is hitting a much better .281/.303/.594 with three homers and a 148 wRC+ since the start of August. He appears to be trending in the right direction, and Statcast metrics back that up:

Statcast Metrics Since August 1:

Barrel%: 19

Hard-hit%: 57.1

xSLG: .571

xwOBA: .367

The most evident change, however, has been in Cowser’s contact profile since the start of the month. First, let’s take a look at some of his full-season stats:

O-Contact%: 48

Z-Contact%: 80

Contact%: 68.6

SwStr% (swinging strike percentage): 13.4

Now, the same numbers since August 1:

O-Contact%: 50

Z-Contact%: 89.7

Contact%: 73.8

SwStr%: 11

Granted, the sample is still tiny, but Cowser seems to be doing a better job making contact this month, and when he does connect, it’s usually loud. He is also sporting an ideal batted-ball split in August so far:

LD%: 28.6

GB%: 19.0

FB%: 52.4

Of course, it would help if Cowser’s walk rate this month, 3.0 percent, resembled his full-season value of 12.5 percent, but good things are happening when he makes contact with the ball. He is also striking out a third of the time in August, which will need to come down if he is going to find the consistency he needs.

It would help, of course, if the Orioles played Cowser every day, even against left-handers. His last homer, in fact, came against a southpaw, facing Steven Matz on Sunday. So, what did the O's do? They sat him against left-handers Shane McClanahan on Monday and Carlos Rodón on Tuesday.

Generally speaking, however, it’s safe to say that Cowser is enjoying a nice run at the plate in August. Is he capable of keeping it up for the long term? That’s what we are all going to find out eventually. If he can recapture his 2024 form or something close to it, the Orioles’ surprising case for postseason baseball would get a boost.