Orioles’ Cowser a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year

Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser is a finalist for American League Rookie of the Year. Cowser, who was already the American League’s Outstanding Rookie in the Players Choice Awards, will find out on November 18^th if he’ll become the second consecutive Oriole to win Rookie of the Year. Last year, Gunnar Henderson was the unanimous winner.

The other finalists are New York Yankees starter Luis Gil and Yankees catcher Austin Wells.

No other Oriole is a finalist for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America major awards.

Henderson was the first Orioles rookie to win the award since Gregg Olson in 1989. If Cowser wins, the Orioles will have consecutive Rookie of the Year winners for the first time in their history.

Not since the late Mike Flanagan and Steve Stone won the American League Cy Young Award in 1979 and 1980 have the Orioles had consecutive award winners.

Cowser was also a finalist for the Gold Glove Award in left field.

After hitting just .115 (7-for-75) in his first try in the major leagues in 2023, Cowser did much better this season. He played in 153 games, behind only Henderson’s 159 and Anthony Santander’s 155. While he hit only .242, his .768 OPS was fourth on the team behind Henderson, Santander and Jordan Westburg.

Cowser’s 24 home runs trailed only Santander and Henderson, and were the most by a rookie. His 69 RBIs was fourth behind Santander, Henderson and Adley Rutschman.

Though he struck out a team-leading 172 times, Cowser walked 52 times and was hit by a pitch seven times for a .321 on-base percentage, behind only Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn.

Cowser stole nine bases, fourth-most on the Orioles. He had a 4 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in FanGraphs measurement, best of any rookie, and 3.1 in Baseball Reference.

Gil was 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA while Wells hit .229 with 13 home runs and 55 RBIs and threw out 26 percent of runners attempting to steal, four points higher than the league average.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.