Incredibly Good and Deep: Orioles Outfield Prospect Keeps Battling For…, as rest of Opening Day Starters Unveiled
The Baltimore Orioles are incredibly good and deep when it comes to position players.
Consider this: They have three established quality veterans for the three outfield spots in Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, and Anthony Santander, but there are star prospects such as Heston Kjerstad, Kyle Stowers, and Colton Cowser knocking on the door.
All three prospects are ready for the next step, and there is just not enough positions or spots to put them all in play at the MLB level.
Cowser, in particular, is having an amazing spring and is trying to force his way onto the Opening Day roster.
He is capable of doing this to a left-handed pitcher, per Talkin’ Baseball:
That ball definitely got out of the park in a hurry, and he hit it to the longest part of the stadium: dead center field.
Cowser’s quick wrists were on display, but that’s far from his only trait when hitting.
The talented lefty-hitting prospect has dominated Triple-A for two years in a row, including a .300/.417/.520 line and 17 home runs last year.
He struggled in the majors, but he only took 77 plate appearances there.
This spring training, however, he entered Tuesday’s game hitting a magnificent .364/.488/.758 with four long balls in 13 games, and that was before the long blast shown above.
Cowser has bat control, power, and the ability to get walks in bunches.
He does strike out a lot, but he makes up for it with immense offensive talent.
He looks like a future star, and Baltimore would be smart to give him a role.
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Rockies’ Freeland gets nod; MLB unveils Opening Day matchups
It didn’t have the drama of the NCAA tournament bracket release of two days earlier, but MLB held its own unveiling Tuesday by announcing the starting pitching matchups for all season openers.
At least half the teams already had announced their Opening Day starters.
“To be able to be told by your skipper that you’re going to be the guy that’s starting the first game of the season, it’s an honor,” Colorado pitcher Kyle Freeland said in a video released by the team announcing him as its Opening Day starter. “I definitely don’t take it lightly. It’s great to know and have that feeling that you’ve accomplished something that only a handful of guys get to do on a consistent basis.”
The MLB opener Wednesday at Seoul, South Korea, has Los Angeles Dodgers newcomer Tyler Glasnow facing San Diego’s Yu Darvish. Glasnow signed a $136.5 million, five-year contract with the Dodgers after they acquired him from Tampa Bay.
Perhaps the most notable matchup has Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler facing Atlanta’s Spencer Strider at Citizens Bank Park. Corbin Burnes, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner for Milwaukee, is to make his Baltimore debut in an opener against the visiting Los Angeles Angels.
The Chicago White Sox announced Monday that left-hander Garrett Crochet will make his first career start on Opening Day. Crochet, 24, is moving into the rotation this season, but all 72 of his previous big league appearances have come in relief.
Oakland gave its Opening Day assignment to Alex Wood, a 33-year-old left-hander who had never started an opener before.
Some other Opening Day pitching matchups include Jose Quintana for the New York Mets facing off with Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta, Burnes vs. Patrick Sandoval for the Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati’s Frankie Montas vs. Washington’s Josiah Gray, Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin vs. Toronto’s Jose Berrios, Miami’s Jesus Luzardo vs. Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller, Kansas City’s Cole Ragans vs. Minnesota’s Pablo Lopez, Houston’s Framber Valdes facing Nestor Cortes of the New York Yankees, Crochet matching up with Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi facing Justin Steele of the Chicago Cubs, Freeland facing Arizona’s Zac Gallen, Wood facing Cleveland’s Shane Bieber and Seattle’s Luis Castillo vs. Boston’s Brayan Bello.
Logan Webb gets the call for San Francisco when the Giants open their season against the Padres, and Miles Mikolas will pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals in their opener against the Dodgers.
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